30 Days of Tonks and Remus
by AoiKuroNekoSan
Summary: This is a 30 Day OTP Challenge I'm doing for Tonks and Remus. Each day is another theme.
1. Holding Hands

**This is the first day of a 30 Day OTP Challenge from tumblr. ****I've picked Tonks and Remus as the couple. ****This is Day 1: Holding Hands. The content may be a little rough because I'm doing each part in a day.  
**

**Enjoy.**

**(By the way, I do not own the characters. If you want to find the challenge you can find the link to my tumblr on my profile. Thanks).**

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The way the white flurries juxtaposed against the night sky had been beautiful. Tonks stayed awake with her wand lit, pressing her nose up against the window pane so she could watch the playful progress, spiraling from cloud to pavement. The sight made her feel refreshed, softened and excited all at once. She knew she should go to bed. She had an Order meeting tomorrow. She decided to stay for just a couple more minutes. Her breath fogged up the glass, so she wiped it away with her sleeve and stared some more. The minutes became hours.  
The next morning she was punished with bags the like of her great aunt's horrible drooping eyelids. She tried to morph them away, but she only managed to lighten the darkened skin.  
"And a dab of make-up probably would've done more or less the same thing," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. Glancing in the mirror on the way out, she saw her hair flop and becoming a limp black. Ugh. Outside the wind wrapped a permeating chill around her.  
Additionally, it must have rained some time after she felt asleep, because the snow on the ground had turned icy slick. She fell down several times on the way to 12 Grimmauld Place. Yet again, her knees would be covered in bruises.  
What's worse, she ran into Remus. Literally. Normally she would've been extremely pleased to land in his arms (like blushing school-girl pleased), but recently she was confused about where the two of them stood. She was certain he knew about her feelings, she reckoned it was obvious to everyone in the order….and sometimes she thought he might feel the same way. At other moments she was sure he thought she was nuisance and she wanted to morph into a child and hide behind the couch.  
Right now however, he was smiling widely at her. One arm looped around her shoulders while the other hand rested on her lower back. She was tilted at an awkward angle, like they had been dancing and he was dipping her romantically. She flushed, and quickly morphed it away. She thought he must have seen though, because his grin widened, and his cheeks, tinged pink from the cold, darkened to red.  
"Hello Nymphadora, fancy running into you here," he said teasingly. She didn't know why no one ever noticed his mischievousness at school. From the stories Sirius told her, he was behind more than half of their schemes…  
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" She chided, punching him on the arm. The force of her movements caused her to slid further towards the ground. Remus held her closer. She cleared her throat. "Well anyway, thanks, but you can set me right side up now and I'll just be on my way."  
"_We'll_ be on _our_ way you mean?" He asked, his eyes sparkling. Even on her best metamorphmagus day, Tonks could never get her eyes to shine that brightly. Perhaps it was something special only he could do.  
"Oh, all right then," she agreed, trying to act frustrated as she stood wobbly on the ice. In fact her heart was thumping ecstatically for the chance to walk at his side. Though she was almost disappointed that he'd let go of her. Remus looked at her thoughtfully. Then he held out his hand.  
"I don't mind catching you again," he said. "As I'm sure I'll need to in the future." She aimed her fiercest glare at him (mimicking Snape's usual expression). It was all good fun. He was right after all. Not that she minded. He laughed. "But we'll make it more safely to Grimmauld Place if you aren't skidding around the ice like a penguin." She took his hand.  
"I'll have you know I'd make a fine penguin," she told him.  
"…I'm sure you would Nymph—ah Tonks."  
"Some of my friends and family call me Dora," she offered shyly.  
"Dora," he tried it out. It sounded nice coming from his lips. His voice was somehow both firm and gentle. His touch was similar, steadying her strongly as they moved across a particularly slippery patch. His hand was warm and rough, even through her pink fingerless glove.  
"You could use a pair of gloves. You'll freeze in this weather," she commented.  
"I had a pair, but Sirius pulled on a thread and unraveled the whole thing." Remus rolled his eyes. Then he smiled, glancing at their intertwined fingers. "And anyway, I'm quite warm at the moment."  
Tonks' hair stood on end, becoming her favorite bubblegum pink. She resolved to knit him a pair of gloves for Christmas, even though she was horrible at that sort of thing. They wouldn't be pretty, but at least his hands might always feel as warm as she did now.

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**_~fin~ __Next up will be cuddling.  
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	2. Snuggling

******I thank you tons for the good response I've gotten so far. You are all saints (or perhaps just lovers of this pairing...).  
**

**Day 2: Snuggling. **

**These characters are not mine. **

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Tonks was not sure why she agreed to have a drinking contest with Sirius. The man could definitely hold his liquor—and then some.

By the time she started giggling like a madwoman, and dancing around the room, he had declared himself the victor. Tonks huffed, her hair becoming long, green and bushy in order to showcase her annoyance. Well, at least Remus looked fairly amused.

Still, Tonks felt extremely vindicated when Sirius passed out on the floor of the sitting room. The high of the alcohol was also beginning to leave her drained, but she was determined to brag about her staying power before giving into to the exhaustion.

"Really though," she said drowsily to Remus. "_I_ should be considered the winner. Just _look_ at him."

"Mostly I try not to," Remus said, shaking his head. Then he snuck a peek. His eyes turned dark as he started to glare. "Shit Sirius you complete and utter bastard," Remus muttered. Tonks quirked an eyebrow.

"You get more swear-y when you drink," she observed.

"And your eyebrows have turned turquoise," Remus pointed out.

"Oh…really?" Remus nodded. Tonks rubbed her brow self-consciously. "Anyway, what's Sirius ticked you off about this time?"

"He's taken all the pillows!" Remus whined.

Tonks gazed blearily in her cousin's general direction. Indeed, he had taken all the cushions in the drawing room and made some sort of nest out of them. Now he lay, completely ensconced and clutching them protectively. "I see that. So?"

"So, I'm weary. I've been on shift three times this week, the full moon's coming up, and now I'm drunk off my arse. There's no way I'm getting out of this room. I'll have to make do with the cold, hard ground." Tonks snickered at his childish tone. "No seriously, do you know how bad this will be for my old neck? And Merlin my back…"

"Alright old man, then why don't you join me up here?" Tonks patted the spot next to her on the threadbare couch. It smelled of mothballs and there was a spring poking into her side, but he might as well share her pain. Remus eyed the decrepit piece of furniture critically.

"I don't know…"

Tonks suddenly had a brilliant idea. She grinned wickedly. "Use me as a pillow, if you like," she offered. Remus blinked up at her.

"Could I really…?" He hesitated. Tonks beckoned him eagerly. Remus rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay." He moved over sluggishly, and then beside her. He scratched his nose. "Err, now what?"

"Now you go to sleep," Tonks suggested, gently gripping the back of his neck and pulling his head down onto her lap. Remus struggled for a moment, spluttering out flustered apologies. Then he stilled, and his breathing slowed.

"Thanks Nymphadora."

"…Remus John Lupin, if you don't want me to drop-kick you across the room, please reconsider using such vile language in my presence." Remus chuckled. His voice hummed pleasantly against her legs.

"Goodnight love," he said softly. His hand gripped her knee.

Tonks stiffened. A second of sobriety flashed through her, and she knew she was going to be an embarrassed wreck come the morning. Her hair might stay red for weeks.

Then she got distracted by the man below her. The veins of grey in his chocolate colored hair glinted playfully in the room's dim lighting.

She used her thumb to stroke back the bangs that obscured his face. As far as she could tell he was all ready fast asleep. His expression was serene. All the normal wrinkles, those of stress and laughter, had smoothed over a bit. The scar on his temple, which she sometimes saw twitch when he was anxious or angry, was currently still.

Tonks decided that this moment was well worth any oncoming trouble.

* * *

She woke to a bright flash going off in her face. She yelped and reached for her wand, promptly knocking into someone. They fell onto the floor in a mess of tangled limbs. Remus gripped his head and groaned. Tonks sympathized. She wasn't sure if it was the fall, the hangover, or the sea of conflicting emotions crashing down upon her, but her brain felt like it was rattling around in her skull.

"Sirius…where on earth did you get that camera?" Remus asked his friend.

Sirius grinned from ear to ear. "You don't even want to know," he said enigmatically.

"And how are you so chipper after a night like that?" Tonks wanted to know. She sat up and trying to act nonchalant about the fact that she was basically sitting in Remus' lap.

"Ah," Sirius waggled a finger. "I whipped up a hangover up potion while you two were sleepily so cozily." Remus frowned and aimed a kick at Sirius' shin. Sirius dodged.

"Any left for me?" Tonks asked hopefully. Sirius gave an evil laugh.

"Well, there might be, if you promise not to take away my camera," Sirius bargained.

Remus sighed in exasperation, helping Tonks onto her feet as he stood. "Okay," Tonks agreed innocently.

After Sirius gave her the potion she smashed his camera. "What?" She questioned as he stared aghast at her. "I didn't take it away from you." Sirius fake sobbed over the loss of what he called perfect blackmail material. Remus gave her a grateful smile.

She felt almost guilty for secretly rescuing the film beforehand. Oh well, that wouldn't stop her from developing it away from prying eyes.

* * *

**And two down, 28 to go. Next is gaming/ watching a movie. I'm thinking they'll watch a movie. **

******Note: I will warn you again, these things are a wee bit rushed. Still, I am determined to do this challenge, so lets try and enjoy it together.**


	3. Watching a Movie

**Day Three: Watching a Movie. Not that edited because I'm purely exhuasted.**

**Thanks again for the reviews. Please continue with your wonderfulness.**

**Also I don't own the _Harry Potter_ series.**

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Tonks blew her nose hard. She was aware of the red rims under her eyes, but she was so sick she couldn't even morph a fingernail. She was so sick all noises sounded like nails on a chalkboard. So naturally she decided to watch a film.

She cuddled up under several blankets and parked herself in front of the television in her parents' living room. She had planed to come over and let her mother spoil her silly, but as it turned out her parents were not in the house.

They must have gone out for a walk, as they frequently did in the nicer weather. She considered going over to Grimauld Place for a bit of company, but she was certain Remus was going to be there. And today was not a day to indulge her crush.

Tonks admitted that she was somewhat vain. It was hard not to be when she had been able to change her appearance since birth. Not many people knew what she truly looked like, and that always made her nervous about what they would think when they finally saw her as she really was. She could be terrified of them seeing, if she really cared about someone.

Her dad would say that if they didn't accept her for who she was then they weren't worth caring about in the first place. Tonks got the gist, but in her heart of hearts she wasn't sure she could agree.

Her mother would be more sympathetic. Andromeda had grown up spending much of her time being compared to her elder sister, Bellatrix because of the physical likeness they shared.

"I'll be the first to admit the Blacks are a cold and scary bunch as far as appearances go. Of course, everything's not as simple as dark eyes and prominent cheek bones. Some of us...them, have something worthwhile underneath. Really Ted, if you'd judged by my looks we'd never have gotten together," Andy said to her husband. Ted shook his head.

"Nonsense, you were nearly as beautiful as you are now. Though if I thought that's all you were I wouldn't have been nearly as motivated to pluck up the courage and speak to you in the first place."

Andy rolled her eyes, though there was a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Some days I feel like I've married some foolish Gryffindor boy."

"Hey!" Ted crossed his arms. "I'm a Puff through and through."

"Puffs for the win!" Tonks cheered just like she'd use to at house matches.

Those had been the days. There was nothing as entertaining as watching the Hogwarts houses face off in a game of Quidditch.

Though the experience of re-watching her favorite movie was just as good in terms of comfort. Tonks switched the volume up higher. Her ears were awfully sensitive at the moment, and she could probably quote every line at this point, but she still wanted to hear the soothing sounds of those actors' voices.

There was another familiar voice calling out for her attention. She could hear him calling through the front door. "Excuse me! Is Dora in?"

"Just a mo'," Tonks shouted hoarsely back, her heart jumping in her chest. She slipped on her fluffy slippers and warily padded over to the door. Her mind kept circling around the thought of how he would react to her current look. She was quite tempted to pretend she hadn't heard him and let him walk away. However, it would be rude to leave him standing on her parents' doorstep, and besides, she was curious about how he knew where she was.

She unlatched the door. Remus immediately glanced her over, his eyes full of concern. He said nothing about her appearance though. "Hello… Sorry to barge in like this, hope I didn't wake you." Tonks shook her head. "Well Sirius told us you'd gotten sick. I stopped by your building and your land lady mentioned you'd gone to visit your parents." And this was one of the many reasons Tonks got such a low score on stealth and tracking. She was dead clumsy and way too chatty. "Sirius took me to visit Andy once when I was younger, and I figured if she lived in the same place well... I guess I took a bit of a chance." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Us?" Tonks had been wondering.

"Sirius has mostly been complaining to me and Molly. He really wanted to come and visit you himself but, well, you can imagine how well that went over. Ah, and before I forget," Remus pulled what looked like an entire cauldron out of his coat pocket. "Molly has sent soup and well wishes."

"Huh. I could never resist Molly's cooking. Come on in."

"Thank you. And no one can resist Molly's cooking...well, besides Severus maybe. " Remus knocked some slush off his boots before coming inside and taking a look around. "It's very nice in here," he commented.

"Yes, I miss it sometimes," Tonks told him. For a moment she thought she was getting a bit teary-eyed. Then she rubbed her sore throat and spluttered into a coughing throat.

"Can I help you heat up the soup and maybe put up a pot of tea? Would your parents mind?" He glanced around as if expecting them to suddenly apparate into the room.

"They're probably out on a walk," Tonks explained. "It's warmer today. And yeah, tea sounds nice. The kitchen's just through here."

"The snow's melting," Remus said conversationally, following her. "Too bad, I know you like it."

Tonks shrugged. "Winter isn't over yet." She started to busy herself with the kettle.

"I could do that for you," Remus offered quickly. Tonks paused.

"Alright then. Better you do I guess. I'm liable to spill it everywhere in this state." She sat down, gesturing at her rumpled clothes and bed hair.

"You spill everything in your normal state anyway," Remus teased. Tonks pouted and then laughed quietly. Speaking of normal state...maybe she was being too self-conscious. Maybe he hadn't even noticed. Remus shot her a searching look.

"Your hair is nice today...not that it isn't nice usually but..." He trailed off shyly. Then turned his back on her as he lit the stove. He set the pot of soup up over the flame. Tonks touched her mousy brown locks.

"You don't think it's too boring?"

"Not at all," Remus said brightly. "You look a bit worn out, but still lovely."

Tonks smiled at the tablecloth. "It's my actual hair color," she said, wondering how he'd react. "The way I look now…well if you subtract the peakiness...then this is what I'd look like if I weren't a metamorphmagous."

Remus sat down next to her, momentarily distracted by her fabulous slippers. He rubbed thoughtfully at his stubble. "The shape of your face is the same," he said slowly. Tonks looked questioningly at him. "It's the same as it always is. Sort of a heart shape."

Tonks traced the contour of her head, from her widow's peak to her chin. Remus' gaze was almost unnervingly steady. "You're right," she said. "That's the hardest thing to morph away I think. Moody was always going off on it being a weakness in my otherwise fairly good method of disguise. He knocked a few points off my final exam."

Remus nodded. "Well seeing as I'm not testing your aptitude as an auror, I'd say your face is fine just the way it is."

Tonks beamed. "You don't prefer me with my pig snout?" She joked. Remus coughed.

"Not unless that's the way you prefer yourself to look," he said diplomatically.

"I'll have to think about it." She winked.

Remus looked younger for a moment, as he met her eyes and stayed perfectly still. The tea pot chose this opportune moment to whistle it's interruption. He popped up immediately and poured them each a steaming cup. The silence itched like a rash. Tonks wanted nothing more than to smash it broken...but for once she couldn't think of anything to say. Remus pulled awkwardly on his ear. "What am I hearing?" He asked suddenly.

"I don't know, what are you hearing?" Tonks responded in confusion.

"Voices? Hang on, have you got the t.v on?"

Tonks jumped up, knocking her tea over and sending the hot liquid seeping across the table. Remus vanished it easily, giving her a pointed look. Tonks laughed sheepishly.

"Um right. I was watching a movie before you arrived. My favorite one... want to join me?" Remus hesitated a second too long. Tonks felt her self-doubt building up, ready to explode. "Never mind. Forget I asked. I wouldn't want to get you sick."

"I get sick all the time," Remus said. "My immune system is somewhat weak, especially around this time of the month."

"I see." Tonks smiled sadly.

"But well, since I get sick most of the time anyway, I might as well get sick this time, doing something I'll enjoy."

Tonks blinked . "You don't even know what movie it is. You might hate it."

"Yes, but I would still enjoy spending some time with you."

Tonks couldn't say no to that. Even with her diminished powers she was certain she felt her hair flush crimson along with her skin. She tugged on Remus' sleeve and led him into the living room.

Like the gallant Gyffindor he was, Remus let her lie down on the couch, while he sat down on the carpet, leaning up against the coffee table. Tonks held her second mug of tea in her hands as she tried again to focus on her movie.

This time though, her eyes kept straying to the figure below her. Remus was watching the screen intently, scratching one of his old scars as if he wasn't even aware he was doing it.

"What is it?" He said. He must have realized she was staring.

"Thanks," she told him. "For coming to see how I was, and bringing the soup, making tea...and for staying."

"I told you," Remus said, turning around so his eyes met hers. "It's my pleasure."

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**Well, I didn't make this one under the correct time perimeters, but oh what the hell, no one's perfect. Also, a challenge is a challenge.**

**Right, see you again tomorrow. Or rather, later today.**

**Next is on a date. Oh romance, why must you be so difficult to write?**


	4. A Date

**Day 4: A Date is a go. Thank you for the continued reviews. They motivate me greatly.  
**

**Standby for further messaging.**

**I solemnly swear I do not own these characters.**

* * *

Tonks was swamped. Between starting out as an auror, and secretly carrying out duties for the Order of the Phoenix, she barely had any time to herself.

Luckily, she was a Hufflepuff. Hard work was a given that was met with a smile.

Well, at least, on most days she could manage a smile.

"Oh what I wouldn't give for a day to relax in the sun," Tonks yawned stretching like a cat.

"No such luck I'm afraid," Remus told her sympathetically.

"I would settle for a delicious lunch," Tonks muttered.

"Er, Molly is shopping for groceries, so there isn't really any food in the house. Sorry."

Tonks huffed and crossed her arms. "Well I guess there's always Chinese takeout—want to come with?"

Remus looked down at the papers, which were spread out almost the entire length of the extensive dining room table. "Hmmm…I probably shouldn't."

"What are you working on anyway?" Tonks wondered. She leaned over his shoulder and suddenly realized. "Ah. Job applications." Remus frowned.

"Well, yes. I have to send in as many as possible, seeing as most of them will reject me anyway."

Remus would be an excellent employee, no matter what the job was, Tonks was sure of it. It was infuriating that nobody was intelligent enough to get past the whole werewolf thing. She flashed him a tentative smile. "… Why don't you come with me Remus? A little fat, a little grease and you'll be cheered up in no time."

Remus scratched his chin. Tonks thought his beard was filling out nicely. "If you insist," he assented slowly. He neatly stacked up the papers and vanished them away.

On the way out Tonks tripped over the stupid troll's leg umbrella stand—yet again! Remus caught her laughingly.

A deep, booming chuckle joined in. "Kingsley!" Tonks greeted him cheerfully. He was always a sight for sore eyes. He waved warmly at them.

"You're in early Kingsley," Remus observed.

"Yes, though this time I might have been better of late. The streets are so busy at the moment this little old woman forced some coupons on me. I could not refuse. Would either of you like 5 pounds off a massage, or a free meal for two at some place called La Chat Noir?"

"Sure, why not?" Tonks shrugged, opening her hands to receive them. Kingsley handed them over and nodded as he made his way to the kitchen. "La Chat Noir…isn't that the café not too far from here?" Remus' forward wrinkled in confusion. "The one that just opened up. On the window there's a drawing of a cat with a fish in its mouth.

"Ah ha." Remus nodded in recognition.

"Wonder if it's any good… want to go try it out?" Tonks asked enthusiastically.

"I suppose we could." Remus pulled on the gloves she'd given him for Christmas. They were all ready fraying at the edges, but Tonks was just happy that he wore them so frequently. "If we're back in time for the meeting that is."

"You've always got to be the responsible one," Tonks laughed. The fresh air was all ready doing her some good.

"Well it works, as I always seem to make friends with the mischievous sort."

"I see, so you balance us out?"

"A bit." He looped his arm in hers and grinned in an unforgivably charming way. Kingsley was right. This part of town was very crowded today. Remus pulled her out of the way anytime people got particularly pushy. "Though don't expect me to be a saint."

"Oh no, that would be boring," Tonks agreed.

By the time they reached the restaurant, Tonks felt exhausted all over again. They showed their coupon to a managerial looking person, and got very politely seated at a cozy table by the window. Remus nervously took off his shabby coat.

"It looks very expensive here," he commented quietly. Tonks grinned.

"All the better that we're receiving a free meal," she assured him.

The food was lovely tasting to begin with, but Tonks was right. The fact that they didn't have to pay made it all the more delicious. Remus seemed to let loose a little, ordering to very large slices of chocolate cake. He dug in with gusto, but seemed surprised when the waiter brought over a bottle of fancy wine.

"Drinks for the happy couple?" He offered pleasantly. Remus tensed up again.

"No thank you, we're going back to work after this, have to keep a clear head, you know?" The waiter reluctantly walked away. "And we're not a couple," he added in an undertone.

Tonks sighed. How much she wished it was otherwise. Remus gave her a hesitant look as he held open the door and they rushed back through the crowd to Grimmauld Place.

She found it exceptionally difficult to focus on the meeting, being too busy wallowing around in her thoughts.

Sirius noticed, making funny faces at her during Snape's lecture, probably trying to cheer her up. "You alright baby cousin?" He asked afterwards.

"I'm not a baby anymore Sirius." She pouted and stared longingly in Remus' direction. Sirius followed her eyes.

"I see that," he said, comprehending immediately. "Well then, why don't you tell old snuffles all about it?"

She told him. He nodded thoughtfully throughout, but snorted loudly at the conclusion. Remus heard and popped his head up, coming over to see what they were going on about. Tonks squeaked and nearly hid behind Sirius. "What's up?" Remus wondered.

"You two went on a date today," Sirius told them slowly, as if explaining arithmancy to a two year old. Tonks gaped.

"Sirius don't tease Dora," Remus chided him.

Sirius shook his head. "I'm not teasing either of you. You went arm an arm to a fancy restaurant, ended the meal with chocolate cake, and the chef thought you were so cute together he sent out some wine. That, my romantically depraved friend, was a date." Remus blinked.

"I hate to say, but he might be right," he said, not looking Tonks in the eye.

"You hate to say?" Her hair grew long in pale blue wisps. Remus saw and seemed to guess her feelings.

"Ah no! I don't mean… I had a good time Dora, a great time even, but things never go right when Sirius is correct."

"Hey! I resent that."

"You were meant to." Remus rolled his eyes. "What about you though?" He asked, finally turning to Tonks. His gaze was piercing. "Do you hate the idea of going on date with me? Accidental or otherwise?"

"I liked it accidentally. I would love it otherwise," Tonks told him, standing up straight. Remus open and closed his mouth, apparently at a loss for words. Sirius spoke up instead, wrapping his arms around their shoulders and grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, you could start with a bottle of wine and a night in b—"

"Let's start with the wine," Remus said quickly, shoving his hand in front of Sirius' mouth. Tonks laughed her agreement as Sirius protested his muffler.

* * *

**Well that's that. Next up we have... kissing. Ugh. I suck at writing kisses. You, however, would be a better judge of that.**

**Thanks for reading! (Please review?)**


	5. A Kiss

**Day 5: A kiss**

**Thanks for reading all you lovely people!**

**I solemly swear I don't own the _Harry Potter _series.**

* * *

Times were changing. Instead of sneaking glances at each other, they now met eyes with a secret smile and spoke readily of plans for their next date.

Another new development happened on the day Tonks caught Remus, instead of the usual other way around.

Under Dumbledore's orders Tonks was making frequent stops in Hogsmeade. This gave her a good view of the castle, and kept her within earshot of any helpful rumors. Dumbledore also encouraged her to disguise her visits as something other than business. So she got Remus to join her for a drink in the Three Broomsticks.

She picked a table, and started chatting to Hagrid as she waited. She knew from his reports to the Order that he was having a difficult time in Hogwarts lately, and she was happy to lend him in ear. However, she was shortly distracted when she saw Remus standing in the doorway, looking around the room. She jumped up and waved him over. He smiled and started to rush over, so intent on reaching her that he didn't notice a group of Slytherin students turning their noses up at his shabby robes. One of the Syltherins stuck a foot out, smirking. Remus tripped and fell forward. Tonks dashed over, just in time to grab his arm and pull him to his feet. The Slytherins laughed and high-fived each other. Tonks nearly pounced on the little snots.

Remus gave her a grateful look, which nearly cooled her head down.

Though she still had some steam to blow off. She turned to glare at the Slytherin student who was now bragging to his friends. Her eyes flared like red coals, her mouth twisted into a fanged sneer and her hair bristled like flames. The Slytherin drew back, his hand going for his wand…

Remus gripped her shoulder. "Thank you," he said softly, placing a chaste kiss on her temple. Tonks' body shrunk back to normal. The Slytherins eyed her warily. "Why don't we take a walk?" Remus suggested.

"Alright," Tonks said reluctantly. Then she saw Hagrid pushing his way through the crowd, his brow furrowed in concern. "It's okay Hagrid! We'll see you around." She called over. The last thing the poor guy needed was Syltherin students complaining to their parents about the professor on probation. Remus took her by the elbow and started to nudge her towards the door. Still, she could hear the voices of the gossiping Syltherins.

"What was that thing?" "Some kind of Harpy?" "Could've been a ticked off Veela, couldn't it?" "Nah, it wasn't pretty enough to be a Veela." "It was creepy, that's for sure."

She felt Remus' grip tighten as he led her out of the sheltered warmth of the pub, and into the bustling streets of Hogsmeade.

Though along the path Remus took, the crowds thinned and soon there was no one else around as far as her eyes could see. The only noise was the gust of wind moving through the Shrieking Shack. Remus showed her a secret passageway through the house. They sat side by side on a dusty mattress.

"I haven't been here since that rat…" Remus trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Anyway, it was enlightening to go through that tunnel as a human. I'd always wondered why Sirius and James complained so much, now I can see why."

"It was a bit narrow, and it could've gotten dangerous," Tonks agreed. "But I don't mind." She felt subdued in such an old place filled with his memories.

"And decrepit, dark, and dirty," Remus added. "Rather like me in a way," he joked, patting his thin form. She hoped he was joking. "By the way, sorry I've ruined our date."

"It's not ruined. I'm fine just spending some time with you." She smiled. Remus returned the grin, reaching up and swiping his thumb across her forehead.

"You've got mud on your face," he told her in an amused tone.

"Hmmm…" Tonks rubbed at it, trying not to let her thoughts carry her away from him. "Remus, I want you to know that the age difference, your financial situation, it doesn't make me any less attracted to you." She hated when he brought himself down like that. If only he knew the way her stomach flipped whenever she saw him…

Remus sighed, shaking his head in a frustrated sort of way. Tonks was worried she would never get through that thick skull of his. "…There might be some ancient Butter Beers in here, if you want to give that a try," Remus suggested, waving his wand and muttering 'accio butter beer.' A rotting wooden crate came floating up the stairs.

"Don't you try and change the subject," Tonks said, waggling her finger at him. She sneezed as the crate landed at their feet, disturbing a thick coat of dust. "You never listen when I try to combat your stupid self-deprecation."

"I think my self-deprecation is fairly reasonable," Remus said, digging through the crate for a slightly less dirty bottle.

"It's not," she argued. "Why can't you see how good you are!" She grabbed his shirt, pulling him towards her.

He shuffled uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, I can't agree with you."

"Remus!" She yanked him closer. Their noses were touching. His gaze grew intense. "Why do you have to—" Suddenly his arm lips were firmly pressed against her own. Needless to say, Tonks went quiet. Her hands were in his hair, gripping tightly, afraid that otherwise he'd slip through her fingers. He responded by smiling into the kiss.

When they broke apart it grew softly silent. The only sounds were their heavy breathing and the floorboards creaking in the wind. Tonks had unconsciously backed him up against the wall. She was straddling his waist, his hands clasped around her. He let go. She inched backwards a bit, perching on his knees, and searching his eyes.

His goofy grin was like a thousand fireworks going off in her brain. She tried not to let him distract her. "If you did that just to shut me up," she warned him.

"What?" His eyebrows shot up. "That's not it at all. Dora… I've been wanting to… the part of you that gets furious at me because you care is very attractive. I do have doubts but…"

"Well, that makes the two of us…" Tonks ran a hand through her hair. From the cracked mirror behind him, she could see the color was a bright pink. "You know, you're not the only one who's been called a monster before."

"They won't do it again." His jaw tensed. Tonks thought she saw a bit of the wolf ready to jump out and seek revenge.

"They're idiots," she said easily. "I try not to let it get to me. Some people will hate me for reasons that I will never understand. Though…some people have better arguments and I struggle to believe they are wrong."

"They are wrong," Remus assured her.

"Then how can you cling to your self-hatred?"

"I'll admit, hatred is never logical…"

"Well, neither is love," she whispered. Remus froze. Then he sighed, leaning his head on her shoulder, nuzzling into her like he was seeking warmth.

* * *

**There it is. Please tell me if it's any good.  
Next we have 'wearing each other's clothes.' I do have a couple of ideas, but we'll see how it plays out.**


	6. Clothes

**Day 6: Wearing Each Other's Clothes**

**This was a fun, interesting sort of prompt. Hope you like what I did with it.**

**Also I do not own _Harry Potter._ Otherwise you would have to purchase this to read it.**

* * *

As a chivalrous Gryffindor, Remus was frequently a gentleman. When she shivered, he lent her his jumper. When Fred and George 'accidentally' dropped a basket of water balloons on her, he lent her his shirt.

As a caring Hufflepuff, Tonks often returned the favor. When he was preparing for a muggle job interview, she lent him a suit and tie.

"I think they should fit. On the rare occasion when I'm a man, I prefer a build like yours."

Remus blinked confusedly. "I've never thought of you as a man," he admitted, unbuttoning his shirt.

Tonks was distracted for a moment by his lean chest. She coughed. "Well I should hope not…unless there's something you're not telling me?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

He shook his head and pulled on the suit jacket. "Ah, that is a pretty good fit. The sleeve's are short though."

"Let me." She pulled out her wand. "Mum's taught me all these great spells for adjusting clothes, since my size is constantly changing, you know." She held his wrist, waving her wand and muttering over it. The sleeve grew slowly. "That should do it." She drew back.

"Thanks," Remus grinned, catching her hand and kissing her fingers. Tonks promptly lost all concentration. She flailed her wand around causing the other sleeve to grow at an alarming rate. Remus watched his sleeve trail onto the floor. "There's the rub," he laughed.

Later that day Tonks went for lunch with her old friend Charlie Weasley.

"Watcher Charlie!" Tonks said brightly, spotting his vibrant ginger hair from all the way down the street. She gave him a welcoming hug and that sat down across from him.

"Tonks you're late. I've ordered pasta for the both of us." He looked her over. "…Got yourself a man, have you?"

"Huh?" Tonks accidentally put her elbow into the jar of sugar. She brushed herself off, wondering how he'd guessed.

"You're wearing a guy's jumper."

"How'd you know it's not a fashion statement?"

"It's not pink enough for you mate. So who's the bloke?"

"I thought I was meeting Charlie Weasley, not Molly," Tonks grumbled. "What's with the interrogation?"

"So, it's a secret relationship?" Tonks shrugged. Charlie grinned and leaned forward. Tonks saw a flash of skin, and noted that he was covered in shiny burns. She thought that years from now he'd be just as scared as Remus. "Tell me all about it."

"Charlie, I haven't heard from you for years," she deflected.

"I won't apologize for following my dreams." Charlie frowned.

"I'm not asking you to. You could've sent a letter though. Just to let me know how you were doing."

Charlie sighed. "You've got a point. Well, let's make up for lost time. Cheers on becoming an auror Tonks!" He raised his glass to her. Tonks was struck by memories of the two of them, sitting side-by-side, studying feverishly. It had been a great encouragement to have Charlie with her. He was just as serious about his career path as she was about hers.

She clinked. "That's the spirit Charlie-boy! What about you? How are your dragons? You haven't gotten eaten yet—that's got to be some sort of achievement."

"Ha ha." Charlie rolled his eyes. "But yeah, I'm having the time of my life." His sideways grin was just as she remembered it. "You checking me out?" He asked, winking.

"Not even a little," Tonks assured him. "I'm spoken for."

"By a guy who you won't tell me anything about…at least tell me he makes you happy." Tonks nodded, a goofy grin slipping onto her face. Her cheeks flushed pink, her hair rose in soft fluffy tuffs. Tonks quickly flattened it down as the muggle waitress arrived with their food. The waitress gave her a funny look, but then shrugged and walked away. Charlie snorted. "I see, he's that good then."

"He is. And more," Tonks sighed. "I just wish he'd realize that himself."

"He's modest? That's not a bad thing," Charlie said, between huge bites of his meal. Tonks laughed. It was strange for someone as confident as Charlie to say that. Also, the chaos of Weasley eating never failed to amuse her.

"Swallow Charlie," she reminded him. "Anyway, I'm not saying he's modest…though he is. It's more like he completely doubts that he can be good enough for anything he wants…even me…" Charlie choked on his food. Tonks was well aware that Remus' attitude sounded ridiculous, and so it was. Maybe one day he would understand that he didn't need to prove himself to her.

Tonks thumped Charlie on the back. "Maybe he's too soft for someone like you," Charlie surmised once he could breath again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tonks asked grumpily. "Don't make me regret saving your life."

"I'm not going to die before finishing lunch." Charlie ran a hand through his hair. "And I only meant…well, you're a fiery creature Tonks." She stared. Charlie's ears turned pink. "I meant… at school you were always spunky. You'd never take no for an answer. Shouldn't you be with someone who's just as strong?"

"He is strong Charlie. He's both firm and gentle and just completely brilliant… so don't say anything against him unless you want this to be our last lunch together."

"Alright, I won't." Charlie raised his hands up in surrender.

And he kept his word. Still, Tonks was upset by their conversation. She decided to head by Grimauld Place, hoping to run into Remus after his interview. Instead she ran into Bill Weasley.

"Hello Tonks." He smiled at her. "You keep popping up today. In conversation I mean. Remus was telling me you'd leant him a suit, and Charlie begged me to tell him who you were dating. I clued him in. I hope it wasn't supposed to be a secret…" His brow furrowed.

Tonks slumped down into a chair. "No…not exactly. I mean, I would shout to the world about it if I could, but Remus wanted to keep it quiet. He said he's worried people will look down at me for 'associating' with him. I wish he'd understand that I can take whatever they give out."

"Nobody wants to put their loved ones through pain," Bill said quietly. "Want some tea?" Tonks nodded. He handed her over a mug. She took a long draught.

"I just…sometimes I feel like he doesn't love me as much as I love him." Tonks buried her face in her hands. "I'm probably being stupid but…"

"Hmmmm…." Bill fiddled nervously with his earring. "Well, I'm not sure I'm the person to talk to this about, but I could give it a go if you like."

"Please do." Tonks waved him on.

"Right. Well, this is kind of embarrassing," Bill stared at the ceiling. "And I don't know Remus very well, but so far I've got the impression that he has the same thick skin as us Weasleys. Growing up with very little money has made us shun charity, even if it's well meant. Remus seems to be the same way." Tonks leaned her head against the table. Why was it that the people who actually deserved money, barely had any? "So I think the fact that Remus can be pleased to borrow your clothes shows that he trusts you quite a lot. I figure trust is the basis to build the best sort of relationships, right?"

Tonks planted a big wet kiss on his cheek. "You're terrific Bill!"

When Remus got back she pounced on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. "Well hello there," Remus said, clearly amused. "This is a nice greeting." Tonks hugged him close. "Can we go upstairs though, I'm tired, want to have a bit of a lie down."

"Sure thing." She disentangled herself and skipped after him. Soon they lay warmly cuddled up in one of the bedrooms. Remus yawned. "How'd the interview go?" She asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," Remus said honestly. "Though I think it did help to have a nice suit."

"Well of course, you look excellent in my clothing."

Remus pulled at the jumper she was wearing. "As do you in mine."

* * *

**Almost didn't finish this one. The editing was pissing me off. If you see anything wonky feel free to point it out. **

**Next is Cosplaying. I will have to get extra creative.**


	7. Cosplay

**Day 7: Cosplay. I can't believe I've done this many so far. And also you people are incredibly sweet and motivating with your reviews.**

**I don't own the _Harry Potter _series. Sorry if you thought otherwise.**

* * *

Shortly after Tonks got inducted as an auror, Grandma Tonks died.

Tonks hadn't seen her grandmother in years.

She and her parents occasionally visited for Christmas, but in general her dad's family was a mystery to her.

As far as her dad would tell her, he had purposely distanced himself from them because he knew magic confused them. Not that his family was anything like the Blacks. The older Tonks tried their best to understand their son's new world, but he could tell it was unsettling to them.

"Sometimes if you love someone you have to leave them alone," Ted said. "You have to do what's best for them, even if it's painful."

So of course he sobbed during the funeral. Tonks let her hair fade to a dour grey as she stood, arm and arm with him. She felt like if she let go, he would fall. "A person's life is just as important as their death, mum always used to say," Ted sniffed as he sorted through his mother's possessions. "When dad died, she said let's not cry too much, let's laugh about all those ridiculous memories." He held up a pile of books, gazing fondly at them. "She read these aloud to me when I was a kid."

"_The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_," she read aloud one of the titles. "What are they about?"

"A consulting detective and his closest friend," her father answered with a smile. "I should've read them to you, like she did for me."

"Well, it's never too late," Tonks assured him, plopping down on a dusty cushion and looking up expectantly.

For the next several years Tonks stoked a burning passion for the Sherlock Holmes series. The themes of clever mystery and crime fighting lined up perfectly with her pursuit of becoming the best auror possible. She worked hard in the field and at the office, and read at length whenever she came home. Soon the words became comfortably familiar. Her dad was incredibly amused, and even bought her a deerstalker cap for a birthday present.

She kept the hat in her bag, sometimes taking it out and putting it on when she was faced with a particularly difficult problem.

Then Tonk's life started to change dramatically. She learned that her mother's favorite cousin was not in fact a murderous lunatic as the papers suggested, but actually quite a nice guy, currently living in his parents' old house, which was now home to a secret Order that Tonks would shortly join as well.

It was a lot to take in.

By the time she started helping Molly and the others make 12 Grimmauld Place habitable for human beings, she hadn't read the series in quite some time.

To be honest, she was itching to put that hat on again.

So when Molly complained grumpily about a particular dinner plate having gone missing, "Merlin's hat it was right here yesterday and it's the perfect size for tonight's brisket." Tonks offered her mystery solving skills up, right away.

"I'll find it Molly," she said eagerly.

"Really? Thank you so much dear, that'd be a great help."

Tonks placed her deerstalker on her head, morphed her nose long and beaklike and stalked out of the room.

She ran into several people in that outfit, and the reference flew right over most of their heads. Only Hermione Granger, a muggleborn friend of Ron Weasley's, understood.

In fact, Hermione laughed so hard that she dropped her broom on Ginny's foot.

"Hermione!" Ginny glared, rubbing her foot.

"Sorry Gin." Hermione smiled brightly at Tonks. "Great costume Tonks! What's it for?"

"I'm doing a bit of detective work Ms. Granger," Tonks said steepling her fingers together. "Care to join me?"

"Wish I could, but I've got cleaning to do," Hermione said disapointidely. "Let me know how it all works out though."

"Will do." Tonks waved as she continued up the stairs.

"I don't get it," she heard Ginny say.

Tonks shook her head.

She had tracked the likely location of Molly's dinner plate all the way to the Black family library. When she saw Ron earlier he mentioned something about using a large plate to hold some cleaning rags. He reckoned he left it in the library.

Tonks opened the doors, glancing around, hoping to find the dish. Instead she saw something, or rather someone, who made her stop in her tracks.

Before she could decide whether or not to sneak away, Remus caught sight of her and motioned her over. He was sitting at a desk, turning the page of some heavy genealogy volume.

"It's disgusting stuff," Remus said pleasantly, closing the book. "What are you up to Nymphadora? You look like you're having a lot more fun."

Tonks glared. She sometimes wondered if Remus Lupin continued to use her first name because he knew it got under her skin. She sometimes wondered if that was one of the reasons she liked him so much. "I'm doing some detective work for Molly," she explained, tapping the top of her hat. "It's the Case of the Missing Dinner Plate. You haven't seen one around her somewhere, have you?"

"I'm afraid not Mr. Holmes," Remus answered with a grin. Tonks' heart leapt excitedly.

"You've read the books?" She asked, grabbing onto his arm.

Remus blinked, staring down at her hands. Tonks awkwardly released him. "…Yes, actually. My mum was a muggle, and those books were some of her favorites growing up." He glanced around the room for a moment, and then stood up, walking over to an old hat stand and blowing a layer of dust off a bowler hat. Then he smartly flipped the hat on his head. "Have you got a Watson yet, or will my services do?"

"I think I saw a cane in an umbrella stand down the hallway," Tonks said, resisting the urge to hug him.

"Then the game is afoot!" Remus announced, offering her his arm.

Several hours later they discovered the dinner plate, hidden away beneath a bunch of rags in a cabinet near the boiler. "This is Kreacher's nest…he must have decided that the dish was an important Black family relic," Remus concluded. Tonks sighed, following him up the stairs. "What's wrong Nymphadora?"

"Tonks."

"What's wrong Tonks?"

"Well…I just thought, wouldn't you be a better Holmes. You've certainly got the intelligence for it, while I'm just goofy and clumsy."

Remus frowned. "But you are extremely smart Tonks. Just look at that proposition you came up with the other day. I'm sure your letter will draw with Durselys away from Privet Drive without any suspicion. Besides, you are a far better letter than me Tonks. You have the charisma and social skills."

"And you certainly are brave and kind hearted like Watson, so perhaps we're both a bit like both."

Remus leaned on his cane. "Hmmm… well I think it shows we are the perfect partners in crime…"

"Or rather crime solving," Tonks finished for him.

When Molly saw them all dressed up, she beamed and said they made the cutest couple. Tonks instantly regretted telling Molly about her crush. She flushed in horror. Remus merely laughed and tipped his hat.

* * *

**This was kind of fun to write. The idea just popped into my head and I went with it. I think they idea of Tonks and Remus as Holmes and Watson would be adorable.**

**Next is shopping. What sort of shopping I don't know. It'll come to me eventually.**


	8. Shopping

**So here is Day 8: Shopping.**

**I do not own _Harry Potter._**

* * *

Tonks waddled forward like a penguin, her hands cradling her bloated belly.

"Wait! Dora, can we please discuss this?"

Tonks put her hands on her hips, tilting a bit under the weight of her own body. "We have discussed this," she sighed. "I said, 'Hey Remus let's go buy some clothes for our son!' You said, 'No Dora, it's too dangerous, there's a war going on and your mad aunt wants to kill you.' To which I responded, 'So? Our unborn child will still need clothes some day, unless you want him to go starkers. And I don't. So I'm going shopping with or without you."

Remus ran a hand over his face and nodded slowly. "You have an excellent memory."

"Flattery will get you nowhere. Except maybe outside, for some shopping. Are you coming or not?"

"Well, I'm not letting you go by yourself. All right. As long as you we disguise ourselves well. And we should also stick to busy muggle areas…"

Tonks glared. "How stupid do you think I am?" When Remus didn't answer she sniffed indignantly and struggled to get her coat on. Remus helped, and then Tonks properly disguised every inch of them. Remus scratched at his new blonde beard.

"It itches."

"Deal with it."

Together they made their way to a bustling muggle shopping distract. To Remus' exasperation, Tonks led them to a less busy corner, where all of the second hand stories were located. "Not that I have anything against saving money, but I did suggest we stick to the more crowded areas."

"I know. I just chose to ignore you. Ooh! Look at this Remus! Isn't it perfect?"

Remus blinked at the bright turquoise footsie pajamas. "It is very cute."

"Exactly. So forward march!"

By the end of the day Remus arms were packed so full of packages that they blocked his face. Tonks eyed him sympathetically. "Want to sit down? There's a café just up there, we could get a hot chocolate."

Remus nodded eagerly…then he paused. "We really should be getting back." He glanced around them, trying to distinguish anyone out of place.

"Hot chocolate. Thick, Belgian style that is basically like drinking a chocolate bar," she said, knowing that would hook him. Remus groaned.

"Just one cup then."

"That's what you say now," Tonks laughed.

It got extra dark on their way back to Tonks' mother's house. Some part of her had always held on to the idea of that house being her home. Now though, without her father's socks lying around, and his booming laughter echoing from the kitchen—Tonks would never be able to consider that place home again. Well, at least not until her little one was born.

Still, it was a long walk back to the Tonks household.

"I'm sorry we can't apparate," she said, patting Remus' arm. He grabbed some of the packages as they slipped.

"It's fine, I just don't want to take any chances with the baby's health."

"You will be a terrific father," Tonks said, kissing his cheek. Remus squirmed.

"I hope so," he muttered doubtfully. "I do think that…" He trailed off, noticing the sudden sharp look in Tonks eyes. "What's wrong Dora?"

"Shhh…" She held up a finger to her lips. "Someone is following us," she explained in an undertone. "It's those two large men…one of them is holding a wizarding newspaper in front of his face. Bet he thought that was a clever way of hiding." She snorted.

Remus tensed. "I should go after them before they get too close." Tonks shook her head.

"Just like a Gryffindor. How about we dip into that fast food place? They'll have a public bathroom. Let's both go inside, switch around our disguises, and then lose our tails." Remus' hand was hovering his pocket where he stored his wand. He looked like he was itching to pull it out. "Please Remus?" She implored him. "I'm not leaving you, but it's not like I can duel with this stomach. I'm good at plans, remember?"

Remus casually slipped his hands into his pockets. Then he nodded. "Let's go."

When they got back to the house, Tonks was breathing heavily and had to be sat down at the table with some decaffeinated tea. Her mother was furious.

"What were you thinking going out at a time like this? Do you want to die and leave me all alone!" Andromeda's dark hair swung wildly about her face. Her eyes were dangerous. Tonks reached over and patted her hand gently.

"We're fine mum, I promise you." There was a stabbing feeling in her chest, and Tonks had to screw up her face in order not to cry.

"It's my fault," Remus said, leaning miserably against the table. "I should have never let you convince me."

"You didn't have much of a choice," Tonks reminded him. "And besides, I still say it was worth it."

"What was worth it?" Remus eyebrows knitted together. "We had to leave behind most of our packages in order for our second disguises to work. The shopping trip was a waste of time."

"Was it really?" Tonks shook her head. "I had a lovely day with you Remus…and we did get that set of pajamas. Can you imagine how beautiful our baby will look in his clothes? I can. Mum…Remus, don't you understand? The world is a dangerous place. I may occasionally run into potentially fatal situations. Hiding away may be surviving, but it isn't living. The risk is worth it if I get to live my life."

Andromeda grasped her daughter's hand more tightly. Remus looked up, meeting Tonks' eyes, his expression saying that this time he had no argument.

* * *

**Frankly I am exhausted so my editing is rather meager compared to usual. If there are any blaring mistakes, feel free to point them out. **

**Next we have a general sort of prompt 'hanging out with friends.' Most likely I will bring in Sirius again, because he is friggin' awesome. Of course, I could also bring back Charlie, or Bill, or any other Weasley (of Hermione, Harry, Kingsely), or a combination of all. Anywho, see you tomorrow.**


	9. Friends

**Day 9: Hanging out with friends.  
**

**Whoops, forgot to post this earlier. I am basically asleep at the moment so...**

**Oh, and I don't on _Harry Potter_. **

* * *

Toss a chocolate frog over this way Ginny," Tonks said, motioning her hand towards her mouth.

"Haven't you had enough?" Hermione said, a good-natured twinkle in her eyes.

"Yeah, because chocolate frogs are positively intoxicating. Any more and we'll have to cut you off!" Ginny said, feigning seriousness.

"You don't understand!" Tonks whined. "Remus eats all the chocolate within like a foot of him. I can't eat any chocolate products in the same room as him, or else he'll give me those puppy dog eyes and I can't help but hand it over. Now that we'll be together all the time, I'm going to go through withdrawal!"

There was a moment of silence.

"You do have a point," Ginny agreed. She threw three chocolate frogs Tonks' way. Tonks started gobbling them up.

"If you have that much more sugar you won't be able to get any sleep," Hermione chided her. "You'll want to be well rested for tomorrow morning."

Tonks squeaked and hid her head under a pillow. "I can't believe I'm getting married in less than a day." She rolled around the floor of Ginny's room gleefully.

"Neither can I, you act like you're about four years old," Ginny teased. "And Hermione, be fair, a sugar rush is much better than what the boys are getting up to."

"Ah." Hermione frowned. "You're right. I saw them when I let Crookshanks out. They're congregating in your father's shed. They were chanting 'Chug, chug, chug!' last I heard." Hermione pumped her fist, miming the boys' movements.

"Speaking of the boys…" Tonks sat up and grinned. "I'm feeling extremely tempted to break that whole: groom can't see the bride the night before the wedding, thing."

"Isn't it more romantic that way?" Hermione wondered.

"Please. It's just an ancient custom for when the brides were still pure, and society wanted to keep it that way until the wedding night," Ginny said, waving her hand dismissively. Hermione bit the inside of her cheeks and sighed.

"Well that ship has sailed," Tonks commented. "So I might as well sneak downstairs and see how he's doing."

"Just make sure not to bump into mum," Ginny warned.

"I will." Tonks popped up, pulling on her pink bathrobe.

"Though she's probably in a pretty deep sleep if she hasn't gone to yell at the boys yet," Ginny muttered as Tonks left.

Of course, Tonks tripped over the bottom step and came tumbling onto the carpet. Luckily it was a soft carpet. Her body slamming into it didn't make a sound.

So it was quiet enough for Tonks to hear the lull of voices in the kitchen. She pushed herself onto her feet, and carefully crept up to the doorway. She was hidden in the shadow of the cabinet. She kept her breath gentle, so they would notice her.

"I thought you would stay in the shed. You were drinking down that fire whisky like it was water," Remus said in an amused tone.

Charlie grunted. "Yeah, well I've done worse," he paused. "Or better, depending on how you think about it."

Tonks held her hand up to her mouth, in order to keep herself from laughing. She did not want to be discovered just yet. She was too curious to discover why her former best friend and her husband-to-be were chatting sullenly in the kitchen when they ought to be outside, rip roaring drunk.

"We all have." Remus sighed. "I've made plenty of mistakes."

"We all have," Charlie repeated, half-mockingly, half-seriously. "Your problem is you let your mistakes weigh you down instead of building you up. You do realize that if you leave her you'll be leaving the best thing that's ever happened to you." Tonks' eyes widened. "And for what?"

"Leaving would be the best for her," Remus whispered. She could barely hear him. She didn't want to hear him. "She could do so much better without me."

"I want to agree with you Lupin. I want to tell you to pick up your bags and disappear—but I won't. Because for some crazy reason she wants you, and she's happy with you. I can't screw up her happiness like that. Could you?"

"…I wonder if I'm all ready destroying her happiness."

"Damnit man, do you even have ears? I just told you, she glows when you come in the room. I swear if you take that away from her I'll send my dragons after you."

Remus burst into proper, heart-wrenching laughter. "You Weasleys! Times get dark, and you make jokes. I miss being around people like that. Merlin, I miss my friends. If James were here he'd straighten me out. He'd shout and shock me into my senses. Sirius would probably hit me for considering something that would hurt his dear baby cousin…"

"I could shout and hit you if you like," Charlie offered casually.

"No thanks," Remus answered. "I think you've set me right all ready…Thank you Charlie."

"Don't mention it. I mean really, if you tell anyone about this conversation I will actually send my dragons after you."

"Okay, saying that once is enough."

Once was certainly enough. Tonks crept back upstairs, unsure of whether to cry or sigh in relief. She knew Remus had doubts, but she had not known they could impact her life so heavily. Charlie was right. She would break if Remus left. She would chase after him, she wouldn't let him go… but she'd never be whole if he decided he could not be with her.

What cheerful thoughts for the night before her wedding.

Tonks rubbed her temples, trying to scrub out the negativity. He chose to stay, she reminded herself. He chose you instead of running. He is a brave man, and he will stay by your side, even if it hurts.

"Thank you Charlie," Tonks said to herself. Then she turned to enter Ginny's room again. She was going to need more chocolate.

* * *

**This was not supposed to be sad, but it became so.  
**

**I need to edit stuff but I'm so tired...rar...**


	10. Animal Ears

**Here is a happy one to counteract yesterday.**

**Day 10 (wow, how are we here already?): Animal ears**

**Thank you so much to the continued reviewing. You guys give me little bursts of happiness exactly when I need it.**

**I solemnly swear I do not own _Harry Potter_.**

* * *

Tonks was dancing through the hallway singing a Weird Sisters song. She had just gotten to the chorus (her favorite part) when she heard the sounds of scuffling in one of the rooms. Reacting immediately, she flung the door open, her wand out at the ready. She lowered it.

Remus and Sirius were rolling around the floor, grappling with each other as they traded insults.

"You over grown furball!" Remus shouted, yanking on Sirius' hair. Sirius yelped and kneed Remus in the stomach. Remus toppled over and Sirius successfully pinned him down.

"I am the champion!" He announced, clearly pleased with himself. "Oh. Hello Tonksie, what are you up to?" Tonks stared at her cousin, so casually sitting on her crush's back.

"Uh, I think the question is, what are you two doing?"

"Sirius cast a spell on me, but he doesn't know how to reverse it," Remus said in a muffled tone. "Now will you get off of me?"

"If you stop attacking me."

"Only if you reverse the spell."

"I told you, I have no idea how to do that."

"It wouldn't be the first time you lied to prolong a prank."

"Well then, if you don't believe me, I won't get up," Sirius huffed, lightly offended. Tonks scratched her head.

"You know, I can see where those rumors about the two of you came from."

"You mean the rumors that Sirius and I are romantically involved?" Remus asked calmly.

"We've been dealing with that since Hogwarts." Sirius shrugged. "Anyway, you seem better now. Here, I'll let you up." He stood up and pulled Remus to his feet.

Tonks suddenly realized what the spell had done to Remus. The poor werewolf had aptly fluffy ears sticking out of the top of his head. Tonks laughed so hard tears came out of her eyes. "Oh, that is spectacular!"

"Thank you, thank you." Sirius bowed proudly.

"I hoped you would've been on my side," Remus said, disappointed. He cupped his hands over his second set of ears, trying to hide them from sight. "It's embarrassing," he muttered. "I can't go to the meeting like this." Seeing the look on his face, Tonks felt guilty for laughing.

"All right. Maybe I can help." She turned to Sirius. "How did the spell go?"

"Hmmm…" Sirius tapped his chin. "Something like this." He waved his wand in a spiral motion.

"Sirius, don't you dare—" Remus warned, but he was cut off.

"Animalis aures," Sirius chanted.

Tonks blinked. An awkward tingling sensation, somewhat similar to the feeling she had when morphing, suddenly buzzed on the crown of her head. Sirius chuckled.

"Sorry about that," he said. Though he didn't sound apologetic at all. Tonks patted the top of her head. Sure enough there were soft triangles peeking out of her hair. She shook her head, trying to morph them away, but it didn't work.

"…Anyone have a mirror?" Tonks asked slowly. She felt curious rather than angry. Remus spotted a murky looking glass a wall nearby. He cleaned it with a quick scourgify. Tonks stood next to it. "Oh. Mine are cat ears I think," she said, wiggling them experimentally.

Sirius started laughing even harder now, clutching at his sides like he was going to fall apart. Tonks agreed that the situation was completely ridiculous. A giggle rose out of her chest and then grew into full blown hysteria. Remus just stood there, arms crossed, trying very hard to look stern as his friends lost themselves in laughter.

Tonks nudged his side, pointing at her ears, which were curling cutely. Remus grinned and then covered his mouth as the hilarity overtook him.

* * *

**Well onward and upward I suppose. Today was not a good day, though editing this calmed me down a little bit. And your reviews help enormously. **

**Anyway, tomorrow will be wearing kigurumi (full bodied costumes). TBH those things freak me out but... I don't know, I'll think of something.**


	11. Wearing Kigurumi

**Day 11: Wearing Kigurumi (full bodied costumes). From what I've seen there are two kinds of these things. Some of them are kind of cute, like animal styled onesies. Then there are the other type, sort of like school mascot costumes, but made to look like people... kind of anime style. To be frank the second type freaks the heck out of me. So this chapter got dark (if I did it right).**

**Anyway, thank you for the delightful response and please enjoy.**

**I have recieved confirmation that I don't own _Harry Potter_.**

* * *

It was dark. There was a murky black misty curling around her ankles and rising to block her vision.

Immediately she reached for her wand, but it was not in its usual position at her hip. In fact, her hip was not in its usual position. Her entire body was amorphous, malleable and oozing like goo. From somewhere deep within the slime, her heart beat painfully.

She screwed up the place where her eyes should be, trying to bring back the concentrated tingly feeling that accompanied her morphing. Her mud-like body bulged outward, and shrunk inward, but refused to become something normal.

What had gone wrong? Was it Bellatrix? Had her mad aunt finally caught her and put her under some dark curse? She knew Bellatrix liked to play with her food before she ate it. This would certainly be a pleasurable torture for her aunt.

Tonks tried to keep her breath calm, but it came out in short gasps. "Remus?" She called out. The last thing she remembered was going to bed at his side. "Mum?" What if Bellatrix had gotten into the house and had killed everyone inside… "Somebody?" Then she saw another figure on the black horizon. It was a grotesque satire of a wolf, with a weighty bulbous head, and cartoonish limbs. A low growl rose from the wolf's throat. "Remus?" Tonks wondered. The cardboard ears twitched in recognition. This didn't make any sense. He lunged at her, and she automatically started running. Or she tried to. Her melting body was not able to move very quickly. She was swore she was leaving bits of herself trailing behind… The fake wolf snapped playful at where her heels should be. Tonks thought she might start crying. If Remus was in that suit, she wanted him out.

And all of a sudden the world grew still.

There was no sound in the chilly air.

Tonks stood still, dripping onto the dirt as she stared at what might be her husband. He had fallen to the ground, screeching in horror as he tore at his face, desperately trying to rip off his own head. Inexplicably she knelt down and tried to help him. Again, her body was not much good, but she tried her best. However, no matter how they pulled, the bulky costume stayed firmly encasing him. What had become of them? Her melting arms curled around her body, and she prayed against all odds that this curse (or whatever it was), would not injure the baby.

Then in a flash she in St. Mongos. The healers were ordering her to "Push!" She was squeezing the wolf's hand as she screamed. Out of her sludge came her child. He was stuck in a wolf custom, like his father—yet at the same time he was melting into a shapeless mess.

The new mother continued to scream at the sight of her child—

"Dora! Dora what's wrong?" Remus was shaking her awake. His face was completely normal, lovable silver scars and all. She cupped his cheek and smiled weakly.

"Just a nightmare," she answered hoarsely.

Remus put his hand on top of hers. "You sounded like you were in pain," he said, his eyes darting around to check every inch of her. She slid her hands down, pinching and poking at her skin. It was solid, human skin. Could she still change it? Her forehead wrinkled as she morphed her hair into turquoise curls. She let out a breath of relief. "What was your dream about it?" Remus questioned, his expression torn between concern and curiosity.

"It will make you upset."

"Well, it obviously did a number on you. You'll feel better if you tell me."

"Ngh," Tonks made a noncommittal sound.

"I insist," Remus said, stroking her curls out of her face.

"…Okay." She told him.

As she expected he hid his face in his hands. "It's similar to what I was thinking when I left," he winced. "That I might be dooming my child to a gruesome half-life." His shame was palpable. It floated in the air between them and left a horrible taste in her mouth.

"And why did you come back?" Tonks asked, tugging on his sleeve.

"I've told you before."

"Right now, I need to hear you say it again."

Remus leaned his chin into the crook of her neck, wrapping his arms around her. "Dora, you taught me to judge people by the goodness of their hearts and the strength of their convictions. With someone like you raising him, our son will be noble, and endlessly stubborn. He will make me better just like you are doing now."

"I think it's you who's making _me_ better," Tonks corrected him. She pushed him down, her head resting against his chest. Remus chuckled.

"Well it's good for things to be mutual," he said lightly. She did not answer. The warmth of his body and his voice was all ready lulling her back to sleep. "Goodnight my Dora."

When Tonks opened her eyes this time she was perfectly aware it was a dream. Oh, but what a beautiful dream. The startlingly bright sun, and the swaying grass beckoned them inward. She gripped her husband's hand on one side, her son's hand on the other, and the three of them ran into the distance.

Together they disappeared into the light.

* * *

**So yep. That happened. Don't know if that made much sense, but it was supposed to be kind of wonky. Anyway, thank you again for the great continued response.  
**

**The next prompt will be 'making out.' Dammit I'm still trying to get this kissing thing down!**


	12. Making Out'

**Day 12: Making Out (so to speak. At least there is some making out featured).**

**Sorry this is so short. **

**Thanks to all you lovely people.(HalfBloodBanana: I award you some imaginary cookies. And trust me, you would not want me to own Harry Potter. I normally write extremly slowly. There would be a like one book released every ten years. Better leave it to good ole J.K. ****Also your username is quite amusing).**  


**I do not own _Harry Potter. _Tis a fact. **

* * *

If she tried to count the things that drew her to him, she would be counting all her life.

There was his smell: like the pages of the old books he constantly turned, and the chocolate that he sometimes had, literally hidden up his sleeves.

She made it a game to try and nudge him hard enough so that they chocolate would fall out. Then she would steal it and run, and he would chase, and she would let him catch her. She would snuggle in his arms and they would laugh until they cried.

There were the creases around his eyes when he laughed and smiled

He laughed loud and deep. It was a sound that echoed across the room and lightened her heart.

When he smiled his lips twitched at the edges, and then they parted just slightly, showing a flash of white teeth.

She often found herself staring at his lips—and then the two lines would mold into a smirk and she had to hold herself back. Because during those moments, no matter where they were, in the middle of a meeting, or walking down the street—she would always want to pounce on him and kiss until their lips felt sore.

That sly old wolf knew how much he tempted her.

At the beginning of their relationship, in the days that he was so giddy with the feel of a fresh start that his mind was yet un-darkened by doubts…in those days they frequently snuck kisses between meetings and meals.

She would drag him into an unused room and jump on him. He would hold her up as she pressed against him. Her head got light, and her breath was stolen right out of her chest, but she was just so happy.

She continued feeling happy even when doxies flew out of the curtain that time and tackled her hair.

She could not care less when Sirius walked in on them and would not stop dropping some not-so-subtle hints every time they were in the same room.

Tonks was just full of energy and it felt like she would never get tired.

At first she thought that those were the best of times, and she would like to freeze and stay in those moments forever.

However, there were even better days to come.

Of course, so many days were dark and painful. Though, it was worth living through those days to get to the others. Those dark times made the exciting moments all the more appealing.

She enjoyed his hands on her hips while he pulled her towards him, but she also loved those quiet times when they lay on the couch, nearly on top of each other as they stared at the ceiling, simply enjoy the intermingling sounds of their beating hearts.

* * *

**THE END...**

**for now that is.**

**Hope you are enjoying so far. It is fun to take on a challenge...though I admit I nearly forgot to write today and was seriously considering leaving it that way. Then I decided to kick my lazy butt into action. Though it is less action than usual...at least it is some action.**

**Rant over.**

**Tomorrow will be: Eating ice cream. I think I'll do food better than sexy stuff. I already know which flavors these two would love. Can you guess?**


	13. Ice Cream

**Day 13: Eating Ice Cream. I enjoyed writing this. Hope you enjoy reading it.**

**As always, thank you for reading+reviewing, and I don't own _Harry Potter._**

* * *

For the most part Tonks' pregnancy cravings were relatively mild. Sure she made sandwiches with pretty much any combination (her favorite proved to be mash potatoes and onion), but other than that there was only really one thing she _had_ to eat.

Remus came home with two crates full of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum Flavored Ice Cream.

She thanked him exuberantly and then dug in by the gallon.

Funnily enough Remus ate just as much ice cream.

His favorite was (of course), double chocolate with chocolate chips and chocolate fudge on top.

"You're going to have just as big of a stomach as mine if you keep this up!" She teased him.

"Well, maybe Molly will stop trying to fatten me up then," Remus said good-naturedly.

"No, she'll probably still say you look a bit peekish," Tonks laughed. Truth be told, Tonks thought she was partially to blame for Remus' excessive ice cream eating. Lately her all ready impressive clumsiness had increased tenfold. Yesterday she tripped over her own feet and then nearly flew headfirst into a wall. Remus was freaking out, worrying that something was going to happen to the baby. Tonks knew she should be more cautious, but somehow she was not that fussed. She knew Remus would always be there to catch her, and if he wasn't, well, she was a perfectly good auror, and she would find a way to catch herself. Anyway, Remus' cure for anxiety (or rather his cure for _everything_) was chocolate. "It's not good to feed your addictions you know."

Remus shook his head. "This is not a chocolate addiction—it's dementor prevention," he argued, waving his spoon around.

Tonks patted him on the back. "You just keep telling yourself that darling."

Soon after that day, Teddy was born. Tonks found herself dreaming of moments like that were the immediate concern was home much weight they were going to gain if they risked on more spoonful. Now Teddy was a bouncing ball of endless energy, and there was never a quiet moment. Tonks dreaded the moment when Teddy learned to walk. So far, with only just the ability to crawl, he was all ready an excellent mess maker. Even the war outside their walls seemed somewhat dulled by Teddy's massive powers of destruction. Teddy loved to get into things. He got into the laundry basket and somehow ripped up all the sheets. He got into Remus' secret chocolate stash and hid it under the radiator, quite proud with himself when they found the melted mess the next day. Tonks, Remus and Andromeda would try and stop him before he exploded the house, but it was just so difficult to find him. Tonks felt like they were playing some sort of high risk hide and seek. One part of Tonks was curious to see what Teddy would do next. The other part of her was going crazy from not having a moment of peace.

This was where her mother stepped in.

"You and Remus take an afternoon to relax. I will look after my grandson," Andromeda insisted. Tonks held Teddy closer. She did want some down time, and she trusted her mum with all her heart…but she was also unsure of relinquishing her son. Andromeda's gaze became stern. "Nymphadora, keeping up this pace isn't healthy. You need some quiet. Leave now before I take back my offer."

So Tonks lazed around the house with Remus. Or she tried to. She snuggled up at his side, and attempted to think of a seven letter word for 'ball,' but she just couldn't concentrate. She kept twitching every time she heard Teddy shout or cry. "I want to get up and help," she groaned against Remus' chest. Remus ran his fingers through her extra short hair.

"We don't we go check on them?" He suggested, putting down the crossword puzzle. Tonks' eyes lit up.

"Oh yes please!" She jumped up, knocked over a stack of books in her haste, and then raced into the kitchen.

She wondered if the scene should have been a surprise.

Somehow though, she was not shocked at all to see her son sitting on the kitchen table, covered in ice cream, using the containers as drums. He was making plenty of noise, and generally having a good old time. Andromeda was not. She was standing in the corner pinching the bridge of her nose. "Dora!" Her hair was frizzing in frustration. "I told you I could take care of him—"

"You know what?" Tonks interrupted her. "I think Teddy is a bit much for one person to handle. I reckon the three of us could probably manage just fine though." Teddy gurgled when he saw his mother, and in his excitement chucked the ice cream container at the wall. It splatted, giving the kitchen the appearance of a colorful Jackon Pollock painting.

"…Maybe," Remus added, with a groan. He looked half-horrified, half-horribly amused. Tonk picked Teddy up, letting him make pink and brown handprints on her shirt. She kissed his nose, he tasted like bubblegum. He giggled. She laughed, nuzzling him some more. Remus beamed and embraced them both in a sticky hug.

Andromeda watched from the side, affection gathering painfully in her chest. She glanced yearningly at the picture of her husband, grinning up at her from the fridge. "If only you could see them now," she whispered.

* * *

**Well... ice cream... I imagine Teddy was a very messy baby. Tomorrow shall be a genderswapped day. Should be interesting.  
**


	14. Genderbent

**Day 14: Genderbent. So in this chapter Remus is a woman named Luna. I wanted to keep the wolf/werewolf association in his/her name. Nymphadora= Satyros. I figured Nymph was like the Nymphs in Greek Mythology, and Satyrs were kind of like the closest male equivalent I could think of. 'os' sounded like a good male name ending I guess. Sirius is 'Canis' as in 'Canis' major, so his name is still related to his star, and also dogs.**

**Thank you for reading, and hope you like it.**

**I don't own _Harry Potter_, but I do own this interruption of these weirdos.  
**

* * *

In a parallel universe a woman named Luna Lupin was once again trying to turn down the attentions of Mr. Satyros Tonks.  
"Listen Satyros…" Luna started.  
"Luna! How many times have I told you! Don't call me that. It's a horrible name. I really don't know what my dad was thinking choosing such a name."  
"Alright, Tonks…listen…I'm quite flattered by the attention, but I have told you that I'm too old for you." Luna pulled a chocolate bar out of her sleeve and started nibbling on it nervously. "You are a good man, you deserve someone young and whole. I am scarred, aging fast, and also poor. You should give up on me. Please." Satyros was momentarily distracted by the smudge of chocolate in the corner of Luna's lips. Then he sighed.  
"Luna…" He tugged at his spiky pink hair. "I've told you before, I don't care about any of that. Well no…it's not like I don't care. It bothers me that you dislike parts of yourself. Still it won't stop me from lo—fancying you. I promise."  
Luna looked like she was restraining herself from banging her head against the table. And she was supposed to be the sensible one. "Merlin Tonks, I don't know what to say any more."  
"Say you'll go out with me," Satyros offered hopefully.  
Luna scratched one of the long scars running down her face. Satyros knew Luna was self-conscious about them, but he thought there was something beautiful about the thin white marks. Every time Luna smiled through her scares and premature greying hair, Satyros was reminded of her immense strength. He was reminded of one of the many reasons he fell for her.  
"I'll…I'll consider it," Luna said finally. "Now if you excuse me there was this fascinating Defense book that I've been meaning to read." Satyros stomach leapt excitedly.  
"Of course…yeah…" He watched her go. Then he felt someone's hands covering his eyes. He grunted and went for his wand.  
"Guess who?" A sly voice asked him.  
Satyros rolled his hidden eyes and lowered his wand. "Seriously Canis, you have to stop sneaking up on me."  
"Nonsense little cousin. You should've seen the look on your face. It was hilarious! Anyway, it's your fault for being surprised—aren't you supposed to be an auror?" Canis swept her black bangs away from her face.  
"I am an auror. You're just sneakier than any person should be allowed to be."  
"Why thank you. That'd be a badge of honor among the Maurders." Canis grinned. It was a secretly aching underneath sort of smile. Satyros recognized the expression as one that Luna wore frequently. The two marauders missed their old days of unbroken mischief. Satyros thought he good be good for Luna, he just wanted to see her smile unburdened. Though that would never happen if all he was doing was chasing after her and constantly getting rejected. He groaned and leaned his head against the table. "What's up?" Canis wondered.  
"Your best mate. Luna is amazing, but she insists she's not and she won't go out with me."  
"Really, I haven't seen someone this bad off since Jamie was pining over Lyle."  
"Please, my love life is not nearly as epic." Satyros waved his hand dismissively. Canis patted her cousin's head.  
"Don't worry Sat, Luna will come around eventually. She likes you, she's just afraid to get involved with anyone."  
"I hope you're right Canis. I really do. I just don't know how to get past that fear."  
"First off, I'm always right!" Canis puffed out her chest. "Secondly, for diminishing inhibitions I suggest copious amounts of firewhiskey. My best bet would be to sneak it into her precious chocolate. Ooh, I can see it now, this will be great!" Canis ran off laughing.  
"What? No, leave her alone Canis!" Satyros chased after her, his hair turning purple with worry.

Still, he had to admit, Canis had given him some hope.

* * *

**And there we have another bit. Please continue to review, it really helps motivate me to continue to write. Also, you can give me suggestions of what you'd like to see in the future and I can try to incorporate them.  
**

**Tomorrow will be 'in a different style clothing' which could mean anything really, but sounds like a fun one.**


	15. Different Style Clothes

**Day 15: Different Style Clothes.**

**HalfBloodBanana: **Were you craving tea when you reviewed? Huh. Now I want some :) Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to keep improving my clarity.

**slenderpanda597: **Thank you! I know I have some grammar errors...it's hard to catch them all with only one day to get each chapter out...and that annoys the heck out of me. So feel free to point out any mistakes you come across. It would be helpful.

**J.K Rowling owns _Harry Potter_. *Bows to the queen***

* * *

"See you flick your wand like this," Molly demonstrated the motion. "And then the thread pulls through. Why don't you try dear?"

Tonks looked doubtfully at the tangled mess of red thread in front of her. "Okay…" She flicked her wand. The thread gave a feeble sort of flop. "Spectacular. Remus will just love these gloves." Tonks glared at the unmoving knitting needles. Molly sighed.

"Practice dear. That's all you need."

"I guess, but Christmas is just around the corner," Tonks pointed out. Molly shook her head.

"Don't you worry Tonks, even if it does turn out less than perfect, I'm sure that Remus will be very grateful. Why, the first jumper that I made Arthur was two sizes two small and falling apart at the seams—but he still thanked me enthusiastically." Molly blushed and waved her hand over her face. "At any rate you are a hardworking woman, you will manage something."

Later Tonks was glad she kept at it. Even though the gloves ended up looking rather two red tongues, Remus' eyes grew soft and he put them on right away. Over the next couple of years, Tonks constantly had to patch them up, but he never stopped wearing them.

And people noticed. "Nice gloves young man," Tonks' landlady complimented him. "Adds a bit of pop you know. Actually, your usual clothes are a bit boring. So this is a bit of an improvement." Tonks went from beaming to glaring in two seconds. She huffed and took Remus by the shoulder, leading him out of the way.

"She's not wrong," Remus said, fiddling with the holes in his jacket.

"I like the way you dress," Tonks grumbled. "Your style may not stand out that much, but it's like all the best parts of winter." Remus quirked his head to the side. "I mean you've got the coziest jumpers, so you're always nice and warm no matter what the weather's like outside…and you always smell like chocolate." She poked his sleeve where she knew he was hiding some chocolate. He laughed and reluctantly broke her off a piece.

She nibbled gleefully. "Well, I know you like my clothes, as you're always stealing them from me," Remus teased. He frowned. "I would rather you steal the clothes instead of the chocolate though."

"Chose your battles darling," Tonks mumbled through her mouth of chocolate.

It was true though, Tonks was nearly always wearing one of Remus' jumpers nowadays. They were a bit of a departure from her normal clothes (which featured lots of pink, ripped jeans and band t-shirts), but she enjoyed the comfort and the warmth they provided.

So Tonks created a tradition similar to Molly's. Every holiday she knitted a new item of clothing for Remus, in return for all the clothes she borrowed for him over the years.

Occasionally, some moments got away from her.

After they got married, they were busy preparing to protect Harry. Then Mad-Eye was killed. Tonks cried often over the next couple of days. She only stopped crying when she started throwing up. As it turned out—she was pregnant! Tonks was over the moon. She could all ready imagine the little tyke running around, eating excessive amounts of chocolate and driving her parents mad. Remus, however, withdrew at the news. He became quiet and paler every day. When she asked him what was wrong, he gruffly said he didn't think it was the right time to be having a child.

Tonks understood where he was coming from. It was a war, death and pain was all around them. Still, this made her think that a baby was all the more needed. She needed some pure joy to dive into.

She just wished she could make Remus see the pregnancy from her perspective. She found herself making her way over to the Burrow to talk to Molly about it. Molly was running around preparing things for Bill's wedding. So she sat Tonks down on the couch, with a knowing look and a cup of tea.

She took out some yellow wool and began working on a scarf for next winter.

"I see mum's converted you to knitting. You should see Hermione…" Ginny snorted as she came over.

"Hey Gin." Tonks waved. Ginny plopped down on a chair. "Taking a break from all that cleaning?" Ginny groaned.

"You would think wedding preparations would be a bit more cheerful."

"Fleur seems to be enjoying herself…and Molly also."

"Well they're the only ones. I swear Ron has been hiding in the attic…I wish he'd tell me what he's been up to. Anyway, what are you so down about?"

"How did you know?" Tonks asked, choking on her tea.

"Your hair is brown," Ginny pointed out. Tonks sighed and scrunched up her nose, turning her hair into a long, rich ginger instead. "Nice choice." Ginny grinned. "Your clothes aren't as wild as your hair anymore though," Ginny noted. "I kind of miss it."

"What the spikes and the cutoff tops?" Tonks wondered reminiscently. Ginny nodded. Tonks shrugged. "Don't know what happened to those…I guess they just short of drifted to the back of my closet."

"I think it was all of Professor Lupin's jumpers," Ginny said.

"Could be," Tonks agreed. "Hmmmm…I hadn't noticed he influenced my style so much."

"Yep. It's a lot different—but so is what he wears."

"Really?"

"Tonks he wears like bright, blinding colors now. He only used to go around in brown, grey and black."

"Sometimes he wore white," Tonks added.

Ginny picked up an apple and munched on it with the usual Weasley gusto. "Whatever," she said after swallowing. "I just meant you two have had a clear impact on each other. That's nice." Ginny leaned her chin on the back of her chair.

"Harry will come around," Tonks promised her, guessing what she was staring into the distance about.

Ginny jolted. "Thanks. And Lupin will too." Tonks blinked.

"How did you…"

"Please. It's obvious. Whenever you two are fighting you start knitting again."

"We're not fighting. I was just getting a head start for the next holiday," Tonks tried to assure herself. Though, now that she thought about it, she had knitted a huge amount of scarves last time they argued. She purposely made them all black and yellow just to spite him. He retaliated by sneaking into her room and charming all of her clothes red and gold. Tonks laughed aloud at the memory. "Anyway, I'm sure we'll work it out soon."

* * *

**So I'm still managing to do this. I feel somewhat accomplished.  
**

**Next one will be 'morning rituals.' So I have to make something like brushing teeth interesting...eh...it's possible.**

**P.S. I shall edit stuff more, however, at the moment I want to watch Tangled and drink hot chocolate. So over and out.**


	16. Morning Rituals

**Here we go again.**

**Day 16: Morning Rituals**

**slenderpanda597: Thank you? And I did. It was delicious.**

**PrincessDreamGirl: Thanks a ton!**

**xXxJaceInWonderlandxXx: :) Thank you :) I didn't put Lucky Charms in...but oatmeal is a type of cereal, so it's close, right? Anyway, now I have an image of Padfoot stealing Remus' breakfast, while Remus chases after him, shouting, "Give me back me Lucky Charms!"**

**Dear any companies interested in suing me-I have not claimed ownership of _Harry Potter_. So, ha!**

* * *

The first thing Tonks woke up to was a sweeping sensation in her stomach as she tumbled out of bed.

She grabbed the nearest item to steady herself.

That 'item' happened to be her boyfriend, Remus Lupin.

They both landed with a thud, rubbing their heads.

"Oh! Are you okay?" They asked each other.

Tonks was trying to look him over, but she was a bit distracted by his hands in her hair, fingers running along her head.

"Ah…there's a bump," Remus told her apologetically.

"I was the one who pulled you down," she argued.

"I'm fine," he assured her. Tonks sighed.

Then she caught sight of his dishevelment. "No, you're not," she corrected him, gesturing at his hair. It was flipped over at an odd angle, making him look like he was going for some kind of moody teenager hairstyle.

She laughed. He saw his reflection in the overhead mirror, and joined in.

"I can go in for work a bit later today, so we can take our time with breakfast," she said as she sorted through her tops, trying to decide what to wear under her auror robes.

"Terrific, I'll make a feast," Remus mumbled into her ear. For some reason he must have thought it was a good time to embrace her behind and place kisses down her neck.

Tonks shivered as has hands skimmed under her shirt. "Not that I'm complaining, but I do have to get dressed."

"Do you?" He asked innocently.

"Yes!" Tonks spluttered, tripping over the carpet as she tried to pull a pair of jeans down. Remus caught her and nodded.

"All right then—eggs and bacon to go with the oatmeal?"

Tonks had been living off of bananas and Chinese takeout before Remus moved into her flat. So she was perfectly fine putting up with his odd habit of eating oatmeal with chocolate chips in it, every morning, even when they had other food available. Though Tonks thought she may have accidentally finished the chocolate chips last night… "Err, sounds great," she squeaked, feeling a bit guilty.

Remus gave her a suspicious glance, but then shrugged and headed into the kitchen.

Tonks found that she got dressed a lot more quickly without Remus in the room. Though it may have been the smell of breakfast cooking that made her hurry to get ready and join Remus.

"You're right, this is a feast." She grinned appreciatively as he plopped some bacon onto a plate. "Thank you Dora…will you put the water in the oatmeal? I've got my hands full."

"Certainly." She popped up, pouring the hot water into the two bowls, and ending up spilling it all over the counter top. She cursed, but easily vanished it with her wand. She slightly thanked her mum for teaching her all those cleaning charms. Then she looked through the cabinet, and affirmed her suspicion. "Um…Remus?"

"Hmmm?" He was putting a little daisy in a cracked vase on the table. It looked lovely and only made Tonks feel worse.

"About the chocolate chips," his looked up immediately at the word 'chocolate.' "I may have finished the bag last night…I'm sorry, I didn't know that was the last one."

Remus groaned and sunk down in his chair. "Nymphadora… why do you do this to me?"

Tonks tapped her finger against her chin, trying to think of a solution. Then one came to her, and rather reluctantly she went with it. "I'll be back in one sec, just wait here."

She ran over to the painting of a boat in the bathroom, pulling it aside and reaching into the hallowed out space behind it. She hesitated for a moment, but then grabbed her secret stash of chocolate and marched into the kitchen. "What's mine is yours," she insisted, handing it over. "Especially as I already at up all of yours."

Remus scratched the scar on his temple. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"How about this?" He deftly chopped the chocolate into little bits (Tonks winced in mourning) and split the selection in half. Then he sprinkled each pile into each of their bowls. "We can share."

"Always the just one." Tonks grinned. She sat on his lap and kissed his cheek.

He wrapped his arms around her. "Not always when it comes to chocolate," he admitted. "But I will try to be if you're involved. Besides, I really am grateful that you delved into your secret stash for me."

"You knew I had a secret stash?" Tonks blinked up at him, she thought it had been…well, a secret.

"Of course." Remus smiled reminiscently. "Sirius said that was one of the reasons we were 'perfect for each other." They had a moment of silence, staring at the ceiling for memories of their lost friend.

"Even though he was a pain sometimes, he was right about some things," Tonks said quietly.

"Most definitely," Remus agreed. He kissed her.

Even with the extra time, Tonks was still late for work. Remus had to literally push her out the door. She was reluctant to let go of him. "I will be right here when you get back," he told her.

"Yes." Tonks hoped he would always be.

* * *

**Hello people!**

**We continue to go on. Next is 'spooning.' Aw...  
**


	17. Spooning

**Sorry this is late. My family just got home and we all watched Doctor Who together. Yay for purple suits!**

**Anyway, Day 17: Spooning.**

**PrincessDreamGirl: Thank you. I try to make my writing a good mixture of sweet, dark, and babbling. **

**slenderpanda597: Snuffles is always dramatic. Again, sorry it's late (and short but...aw well).**

**I do not own the _Harry Potter _series. Otherwise I would have bought my own extensive, cozy library and invited you all to check out books.**

* * *

She saw it coming. In the days before his abandonment he kept drawing away.

Emotionally, he stopped saying those little things she needed to hear, and smiling when she pulled a funny face.

Mentally, he would not spar with her over the topics in the newspaper that made them grumble.

Physically, he still caught her when she fell, but he let go immediately, like he was scared of getting burned.

He took his time going to bed, so she almost never saw him during those late hours. Instead they both lost sleep, him wandering around the house, her lying in bed staring at the ceiling.  
Because, she knew he might leave.  
She hoped and hoped he wouldn't, but she knew it was a possibility.  
In a sense he was giving her a courtesy, trying to give her some space before he tore away completely.  
It didn't work though.  
Rather, it felt like he left weeks before he actually did.  
When he came back there was screaming and there were unfulfilled silences. Eventually whispers interrupted the pain, and lovely words spilled from his lips, and somehow she forgave. She would always feel molten hot anger at the very insinuation that she was better off without him. She could not understand how someone so clever could act so stupid.  
Still, when he came back they started to draw together again.  
And that was all she really wanted.  
To be together.

Emotionally, those little confident touches on her shoulder, on her pregnant stomach, made her feel real.

Mentally, she teased him until he glared indignantly, and then laughed when he realized she was only joking.

Physically he was her missing puzzle piece. His chin fit in the crook of her neck, the space between her fingers was the space for his to lock in. His lips where generally everywhere, and everywhere they went they were welcome.

When they slept, they stayed so close that they didn't come apart during the night—even with the twists and turns of nightmares, and Tonks' wild failing arms, she still woke up surrounded by him.

Remus up against Tonks, his arms curving perfectly around her over-large stomach.  
Ever since he's got back his been hugging her in his sleep. She did not care if this was a subconscious move, or a choice, Tonks just didn't want him to let go.

* * *

**...y Fin**

**Thanks so much for your continued support! I can't believe I got this up (better late than never I guess) and I will see you again later today (in technical terms).**

**The next topic/prompt/thing is: 'doing something together.' Well, that's oddly vague. I think I'll need another guest appearance. Anyone want more Teddy?**


	18. Doing Something

**Okay, yet another. I am having fun writing these...I think.**

**slenderpanda597: **I went with Sirius/snuffles, cause he's always fun.

**This has not changed since last time-I still don't own _Harry Potter._**

* * *

Tonks felt horrible for Sirius. The poor bloke was locked up in his hated childhood home, not even allowed to step one toe outside.

So when he asked her to take him for a walk (as a dog) she did not need much convincing. Sure she was an auror, so she should respect the rules—but she felt as if part of being a good auror was saying to hell with the rules if they were hurting someone.

In this case it was her big cousin hurting, and she was quite keen to try him up. Though no one wanted to go against Dumbledore, who had explicatively asked Sirius not to leave Grimauld Place, Sirius of course had found a loophole.

"Sirius Black can't step outside that door, but no one said anything about Snuffles." He grinned cheekily at the curtains that hid his mother's screaming portrait. Tonks was fairly certain Dumbledore hadn't wanted Sirius to leave as a dog either but…well, it was hard to resist those big dark eyes, the same as her mother's.

"Alright then," she agreed. "But I'll stop short at cleaning up after you. I can understand needing to pick up after regular dogs, but you are toilet trained, I don't want any excuses."

"Sure thing Nympie, I'll keep it clean."

"Since when do you do that?" Remus asked. Sirius and Tonks jumped, pulling out their wands.

"Merlin Remus do you have to sneak up on us like that?"

"I don't sneak, you two were just rather distracted. And Nymphadora, I will warn you, I'm not sure Sirius is toilet trained."

"I am too!" Sirius sniffed. "And so is Snuffles."

"About that…" Remus ran a hand through his hair. "About taking 'Snuffles' for a walk…"

Tonks cringed. If Remus told her off for going against Dumbledore, it would sting.

"Now Moony, don't be a spoilsport," Sirius interrupted quickly. "I just want a bit of fresh air. It was hard to come by in Azkaban you know."

"I know. I was just going to ask if I could come with you." Sirius gapped and Tonks dropped her wand. She hastily picked it up, and exchanged a shocked smile with Sirius. "An extra set of eyes is always helpful, right?" Remus seemed to think they didn't want him to come.

"Of course, we'd love for you to come!" Tonks said quickly. Remus smiled at her and she flushed pink. She quickly morphed her cheeks normal and her hair a bright playful yellow.

"Shall we then?" Remus asked, summoning a leash and collar out of thin air. Sirius groaned, conceded to turn into Snuffles and wear them.

"Good idea," Tonks giggled, as Sirius pulled her forward. "This looks a lot more realistic."

"And it is also quite amusing," Remus added, jerking the leash back as Sirius nearly slammed into a tree. Tonks felt warmth spread through her as his hand touched hers. "Whoops, sorry about that." He withdrew.

"Nope, don't apologize," Tonks said lightly. There was an awkward silence. Tonks started whistling to fill it up. Snuffles ears perked up, and he looked around at them. Tonks saw a distinctly non-dog like look of annoyance on his face. "Now I don't think my whistling's that bad, is it?"

"It's lovely," Remus commented.

"Why thank you." Tonks absentmindedly patted Snuffles on the head. He playful snapped at her heels, getting her into a light jog. Remus walked in long strides behind her. "It's a nice day for a walk with friends," she added.

"Perfect," said Remus, laughing as Snuffles started to chase a butterfly.

* * *

**Thank you for reading!  
**

**Tomorrow is 'in formal wear.' Hmmmm...should be interesting. **


	19. Formal Wear

**Yet another. **

**Day 19: Formal Wear**

**slenderpanda597: Thanks!**

**If I owned _Harry Potter_ than there would not have been so many deaths. Even the ones necessary for plot lines would have been too emotional for me to write.**

* * *

That night they took up Professor McGonagall's offer.

They slept in one of the unused staff bedrooms.

If this had been any other night Tonks would've used the opportunity to jump him. However, tonight was different. So she just lay next to him, rubbing soothing circles on his back, whispering reassuring things in his ear. He did not cry in front of her, but Tonks had the feeling that some time between the moment she fell asleep, and the moment she woke up, tears escaped from his eyes.

"We can pop back to my place—I have some dress robes you could borrow. If you like."

Remus nodded quietly. He glanced at the wizard's watch that Tonks knew was passed down from his departed father. "We'll have to be back soon though. The… the funeral starts in a couple hours. I would like to help set up if possible." She blinked in surprise, leaning against his shoulder to peer at the watch.

"You let me sleep late," she observed.

"I figured we could both use some extra rest," he said, flashing her a thin smile.

"I haven't slept that well in ages," she said as they walked down to Hogsmeade. "That sounds horrible to say, what with him being gone." They passed the Hogshead, which was closed for business. Of course it was. Even with all their differences, Aberforth would mourn for his fallen brother. Just as they all would.

"…When I had questions, even the most impossible questions, he would always listen and give me his opinion. More often than not, his guesses would hit the mark. I will miss having someone to go to that can provide me with answers…but Dora, I will probably sleep more soundly with you by my side. If you still want to be that is."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "I swear, you haven't been listening to me at all."

"I think some of it's starting to sink in."

"I hope so, it's been a long time coming."

When they got to her apartment they buttoned each other's buttons and tied each other's ties.

"You are beautiful," Remus told her. Tonks paused in front of the mirror. Her hair was finally back to its brightest pink.

"And you look quite dashing," she responded, straightening his collar.

As they stood in front of the coffin, Tonks thought that it seemed silly, getting dressed up just so she could wet her best clothes with tears.

Then again, Professor Dumbledore most certainly deserved both her best clothes and her tears. She ought to continue to cry and look her most dour, but somehow her hair would not fade, and her lips slipped into a smile.

"What is it?" Remus asked, searching her face confusedly. Tonks felt laughter bubbling up in her chest.

"Something that McGongall said. Dumbledore really would've been happy to know there was a little more love in the world. I am glad to have known a man like that."

"So am I," Remus agreed.

They reached out at the same time, their fingers touching hesitantly, before joining and holding fast.

* * *

**When one door closes another one opens...or something like that? Important moments aren't completely sad or completely happy, they just stay with us. I am on a kick of cheesy-ness or something. Anywho-the next prompt will be 'dancing.' Hopefully you will squeal.  
**


	20. Dancing

**I could've danced all night...**

**Right so Day 20: Dancing**

**slenderpanda597: **Yes. That is how I roll.

**PrincessDreamGirl: **Thank you :)

**A thousand thanks for all the terrific response.**

**And yet again, I don't own _Harry Potter_.**

* * *

In some ways it had been like they were dancing since the moment they met.

At some moments they came together with a brilliant heat…and at other moments they bent so far apart that it felt like their spines would break.

Whenever he tried to leave, he circled back and there they were again.

The actual, hands gripped at waist and shoulder, spinning until they were giddy dancing sort of way, happened for the first time on their wedding day.

Tonks apologized as she stumbled over his feet. He had trouble steadying her because he was so busy laughing.

The music was like pure energy pumped into their veins. They forewent from thoughts of how ridiculous they looked and simply let their bodies shake and shimmy in any way they pleased.

She swung her hips, head bouncing from side to side as she grinned widely. He started off stiff, but eventually was overwhelmed by her infectious cheer, and became just as silly. Later that night he would complain about his back and his neck, but at that very moment he was just enjoying twirling her around and stepping in time with the music.

Her dress was pink and his bow-tie was red. They were a blur of color across the floor that brightened the room.

And that was only the first time.

The third, fourth, fifth…oh Tonks lost count of how many times they danced that day.

By the time Bill Weasley's wedding came along, she was more than ready for a repeat of that night. She gave Charlie, the best man, one dance before her husband swooped in and stole her away.

"Jealous?" She teased.

"Perhaps a little," Remus grunted. Then he laughed. "Your eyes are flashing different colors."

"You've gotten me very excited." Tonks winked. She pressed close to him and savored the feel of his heart beating against hers.

"Right back at you," Remus murmured.

They would've continued that way into next morning, but the outside world intervened and the wedding was cut painfully short.

Tonks felt her blood burning for reasons other than her husband's closeness. She groaned from the after affects of the curses and rough handling. Remus sported a black eye, as he fought to stop them from torturing her.

"It's alright," she promised him, when they lay in bed that night, covered in bruises. His head was on her lap and her fingers were in his hair. He was impossible still, and his silence scared her.

Especially compared to the brightness and music of earlier, this pulsing emptiness was particularly vivid.

"No," answered, so quietly that she almost did not hear him. "No Dora, it's not alright. You're hurt."

"So are you. We'll both get better. We are strong."  
He sat up and rolled over to his own side of the bed. "You are so strong."

Tonks bit her lip, there he was again, leaning away from her.

Hopefully, if the dance continued, then his next move would be to pull her back towards him again.

* * *

**One more down...ten to go. **

**Next prompt: 'cooking/baking.' Yes! Food.**


	21. Baking

**I am now ****quite tired and in the mood for cake batter. It's not a good combination.**

**Day 21: Baking**

**PrincessDreamGirl: ***does the robot* I'm enjoying stepping up to the challenge actually. Usually I'm just a massive procrastinating mess of writer's block. Metamorphagi for the win! Thank you!

**slenderpanda597: **Aww, why are you so good at reviewing. Siriously, I feel cheered up every time I see your reviews.

**PrincessCounsuelaBnhmk: **I don't know...some how it seemed to fit. And Tonks would love it on him so *shrugs.* Laughing is almost as good as food :)

**I do not own the _Harry Potter _series. Nor the characters. All those sassy bamfs were created by J.K Rowling.**

* * *

In the second week of March, Tonks was suddenly informed that it was her boyfriend's birthday tomorrow.

"You didn't know?" Sirius yawned at her. "Well, I guess he doesn't talk about that sort of thing much. He's an annoyingly modest bloke."

Then with Sirius passed out in a drunk haze, Tonks had no choice but to embark on the cake making on her own.

Well, she supposed she could have asked Molly or her mother to help her out, but Remus was _her_ boyfriend after all, and she wanted to show some effort…even if things didn't turn out as planed.

It was not her intention to destroy the kitchen of 12 Grimuald Place. Sirius probably would have clapped her on the back, but Tonks was freaking out. She had followed the directions to a tee, but clearly she'd found some way to get it wrong because after only three minutes in the oven, there was a loud BOOM! and suddenly the kitchen became the French alps-only with exploded cake in place of snow.

Of course, this had to be the exact moment Remus rushed in.

"Hello? Is everything alright in here?" He asked, raising his wand and looking around concernedly.

"No big deal," Tonks coughed, sending a splutter of flour into the air. "Come back later and I'll have it right as rain."

"Dora? What are you—" Remus scrunched up his face as chocolate batter slipped off the ceiling and plopped onto his face. His eyes still shut, his tongue peeked out of his lips, catching a few drops that dribbled down his cheek. "Delicious!"

"Well, I'm glad," Tonks sighed. "Because it was supposed to be your birthday cake."

Remus grinned widely. "That's incredibly decent of you Dora. I hadn't thought anybody remembered my birthday." He paused. "I don't think anyone's made a cake for me in years."

"Yes, well it's less of a cake and more of volcanic explosion at the moment," she mumbled. Remus swiped a finger across his face and took another taste of the batter.

"I'd say you've done a brilliant job so far…can I help you put it into the shape of a cake?"

"…You want to help me bake your own birthday cake?"

"Why not? It could be fun, right?"

"I'm having fun all ready." Tonks grinned, giving him a kiss on the cheek. It felt like she had a thick coating of cake batter lipstick. "You taste like chocolate."

"When do I not?"

She laughed.

And she continued laughing throughout the day. Especially after they popped the second cake in oven and started on the frosting. Tonks was mixing it all together when she got to a particularly lumpy bit and jerked the spoon rather hard. Globs of frosting went flying onto Remus' nose. "Again?" He asked, amused. Tonks smiled sheepishly. "Well…it hardly seems fair." He pinched the spoon out of her hand and flung frosting at her. "There, now we're even."

"Think again." She grabbed another spoon and they began their war.

When Molly came into the kitchen several hours later, it was perhaps worse of than it had been after years of dust and neglect. Between Tonks' earlier splash and Remus' combat like shots, the walls were covered in colorful splotches and the cabinets were dripping in chocolate.

"Nymphadora! Remus! What is going on in here!" Mrs. Weasley put her hands on her hips and gave them a look that could only be rivaled by Professor McGonagall's infamous glare.

"Sorry Molly," they chorused.

Tonks made her eyes grow large and innocent. "I was trying to make a birthday cake for Remus, but it exploded so he's come to help me."

"Really?"

"I haven't celebrated my birthday properly for years Molly. I'm really glad Dora is doing something like this." His doe-eyes were perhaps even more effective than Tonks'.

Mrs. Weasley's pursed lips slipped into a smile. "Well, that is actually rather sweet. I suppose I can't tell you off for trying to give Remus a nice birthday-just mind you clean up after yourselves when you're done. Nothing can be worse than what that house elf gets up to..." She left the kitchen muttering darkly about Kreacher.

Tonks stared at Remus, tugging on his shirtsleeve. "I feel like we've gotten off somewhat easy," she said.

"Some could say I was the most successful marauder," Remus told her, nibbling the chocolate off his fingers. "Sure Sirius and James got the credit for all the flashiest pranks-but I quite rarely got punished."

Just then Mrs. Weasley popped her head into the room. Remus rubbed his neck nervously. She smiled sweetly. "You'd best take the cake out soon, least you want it to burn," she said. "And don't forget to clean," she added, giving him a knowing look before shutting the door.

"You were saying?" Tonks gave him a cheeky grin.

"Oh quiet you," he mumbled, reaching for the sponge and a dirty dish. Tonks reached over and dotted the tip of his his nose with suds. He couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

**Hopefully I shall edit more tomorrow. This turned out differently than I thought it would. It was one of those things were I planed it out, but then actually started writing it and the characters ran off in a different direction. Remus wanted to brag about the good old days. Sirius just thinks he's modest *winks.***

**Tomorrow will be: In battle, side by side.**

**I will leave it at that.**


	22. In Battle

**Day 22: In Battle**

**slenderpanda597:** um...

**I don't own _Harry Potter_. Not even a little.**

* * *

She ran forward, eyes darting anxiously. Where was he? A sneering death eater got in her way. She threw up a shield at the last moment, sending the spell right back at its caster. She stepped over the body of the fallen death eater. Then she spotted him, dueling head to head with a Antonin Dolohov. Remus and Dolohov looked equally matched, both kept on their toes as they threw spells and insults at each other. Tonks nearly relaxed, but her heart rate accelerated again when she saw another man sneaking up behind her husband.  
"Remus!" She shouted, leaping into action and stunning the second man.  
"Dora." His eyebrows knitted together. He aimed his wand at the rubble nearby, exploding it into a cloud of dust. Under the cover, he grabbed her hand and they sprinted into the distance. Tonks heard Dolohov swearing loudly as spells fired off above their heads. They took shelter behind a slopping wall.  
"There was another man coming up behind you. What would you done if I hadn't been here?" Tonks said, hiding her face against his chest.  
"You shouldn't have come." He was staring into the crowd of desperately fighting students and teachers.  
Her grip on his shirt tightened. "Neither should you!"  
They drew apart and stared at each other. "You're not leaving me again," she added quietly. Remus cupped either side of her face and smiled grimly.  
"There are some forces no one can control," he said.  
"I won't let them get you." Tonks' voice was shaking. She felt tears coming to her eyes, but she swallowed them down. Her throat stung.  
"I don't suppose I could convince you to go home and be with Teddy?" His hand slipped into his pocket. Tonks saw the edge of a photograph peeking out between his fingers.  
"Mum will protect him," she managed to choke out. "I'm not leaving you."  
"I didn't think so…" Remus sighed, pulling her back towards him again, hugging her softly. Lights and screams filled the air. "The main courtyard is where they need the most defense."  
"Then let's go Professor," she teased half-hardheartedly. His mouth quirked.

They stood up, racing through the halls, dancing around spells and taking down anyone they encountered.

The main courtyard smelt of fireworks and blood. Tonks threw up a shield charm in front of a student. Remus forced a giant acromantula to back off.

Then they found themselves in a secluded corner of the courtyard, completely surrounded by the enemy. "Side by side?" Remus asked, determined.  
"Back to back," Tonks answered. There was no one she would rather have watching her back.

"Disgusting," one of the death eaters muttered.  
"Dolohov," she heard Remus growl.  
"Time finish what we started earlier wolf," Dolohov said puffing out his chest.  
"Are you sure you want to be defeated in front of all your little friends?" Remus asked nonchalantly. Tonks was impressed with the coolness of his voice…she could feel him shaking against her.  
A few of the death eaters snorted in amusement. Dolohov snarled. "Why you—"  
He was interrupted by an obscene cackling laughter. "Oh ho ho, wolfie's got some bite!" Bellatrix Lestrange came striding towards them, eyeing the trapped couple with obvious glee.  
Tonks stiffened. This was her mother's older sister. This was the woman who had killed Sirius, and tortured her father to death.  
Bellatrix seemed to be thinking along similar lines. "Your mudblood daddy had such a delightful scream," she giggled, licking a scratch along her arm like a wounded cat. There was a flick and her pink tongue turned red with her own blood. Her eyes darkened and her voice grew raspy. "I wonder, did you inherit his scream along with his putrid blood? Will you abandon your family to save your own skin?"  
Tonks cried out and made to lounge at Bellatrix. Remus' hand closed around her wrist.  
"Ted Tonks was the most loyal father and husband, he was a man to look up to," Remus said. His voice echoed around them. The death eaters laughed mockingly.  
Tonks held her head high. "My father left to protect me, and my mother… your sister Andromeda!"  
"That woman is no longer my sister," Bellatrix hissed, leaning in, almost nose to nose with Tonks. "I will purge her mistake and bring back honor to my family." Then her expression twisted into a cruel grin. "But not before I make you scream like your father… Dolohov, would you like the pleasure of putting down the rapid wolf?"  
"No." Tonks struggled to get in between Remus and Dolohov's wand.  
"I'm here," Remus whispered. He gripped her wrist tighter, holding her in place.  
Blood rushed to Tonks' ears, blocking out the sound and making Hogwarts feel oddly far away as Dolohov slashed his wand. Purple flames erupted like shards of glass stabbing into Remus' chest.  
He crumbled to the ground.  
Tonks felt tears jump to her eyes as she whirled around, flinging curses. Most of the death eaters automatically shielded themselves, but a few spells hit their marks. Tonks had done something unexpected. The confusion left her with a choice.

She could run, or she could stay and fight. She thought of Teddy and her mother, sitting at home, probably unable to sleep. Then she thought of the Weasleys, of Hermione, and Kingsley and most of all Harry. She believed that Harry could end this all. She believed in him, so she would stay and help.

However, the choice was taken out of her hands. Her wand was jerked away from her, soaring into the air, and caught neatly by her mad aunt.

Tonks ignored Bellatrix. She could feel the harsh glare, but it no longer mattered. She silently apologized to all those people she loved who still needed her.  
Then she knelt down in front of her husband's body and gently pressed her head against his chest. He was warm, but so still, and so silent. She clutched his hand in hers.  
This time Remus could not come back to her. Bellatrix's laugh rang out clearly. Tonks tried her best to smile. "This time I'll come to you," Tonks said, not letting go of his hand as a flash of green lit up around her. She closed her eyes and let out her last breath.

* * *

**I'm sorry...this is just what came to mind with the prompt.**

**Argh. Well... rejoice in the fact that these things are not chronological. So they will be alive for the rest of the chapters. This is not going to turn into a zombie fic.**

**Tomorrow: Arguing. **


	23. Arguing

**Day 23: Arguing **

**slenderpanda597:** Guess who's back, back, back!

**Agahasshee: **Yeah. That was precisely my reaction when reading the book.**  
**

_**Harry Potter **_**is not my creation. **

* * *

Some people thought that Remus and Tonks got along so well because they never argued.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

Both had had frequently clashing opinions. Neither was relenting.

Of course, there were certain disagreements that turned into full-on battles of words and emotions. Those fights they took seriously, and we permanently wounded afterwards.

Other disagreements, were more of the lighthearted sort.

For example, Tonks disliked the smell of Remus' beloved oatmeal. She would not eat a bite no matter how much he coaxed, bribed or threatened. Instead, she crossed her arms, stomped her feet and continued to refuse.

Then there were the big, old books Remus was fond of reading. Tonks asked him to stop reading them (at least in her presence) as they caused her to have violent fits of sneezing.

"Please," she urged him. "I'm dying in here."

At first Remus tried to be considerate about it, but eventually he got annoyed. "I like reading these books, with you in the same room. It's a relaxing activity to do together."

"I don't read those things."

"Well…no, but I like getting your opinion on certain interesting points."

Tonks relented that it was cute how he liked to share bits and pieces of the books with her. Then she sneezed five times in a row. "I'm sorry, I just can't deal with this." She got up and walked out of the room, and they ended up spending less time with each other.

When they were together, they were irritable and pushy.

"I'll stop carrying the books when you stop turning your nose up at my oatmeal," Remus said, deliberately turning the page with a large thud so dust flew into the air. Tonks morphed her nose gigantic and then purposefully sneezed a bunch of snot all over him. He rose raised his eyebrows at her, clearly disgusted, but she just smiled innocently.

It got to the point that they were shouting at each other in the hallways of Grimauld Place. Molly ran into them, and was worried at first. Then she heard what they were arguing about, rolled her eyes and declared them positively foolish.

Remus rubbed his neck and Tonks started whistling.

To be honest, they knew their arguments were silly.

"Why don't we try to read this books together after you let me at them with a cleaning spell?" She suggested.

"That's a good idea." He handed the book over. "And you'll give my oatmeal a chance?" He added hopefully. "I promise, it's delicious. And nutritious."

Tonks clucked her tongue, suddenly thinking of another bargaining point. "Well, if I'm going to eat healthier then you should try to stop picking at your scars. It only makes them worse you know."

"If we're pointing out improvements we could make, then why don't you try and stop knocking things over? I think you could be a bit more graceful if you weren't always in such a rush."

"I'm only trying to get things done in a timely manner!" Tonks huffed.

"…It takes longer when everything is spilled out across the floor."

"You have a point."

Remus sighed. "Yes, and you're right about the scars… you think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but the scabs just get incredibly itchy."

"I have a potion for that," Tonks said excitedly, tripping over the carpet in her haste. Remus helped her up.

"Really, do you think it will work on werewolf inflicted injuries?" He was looking at her with a gleam of academic curiosity in his eyes.

"I don't know," Tonks said truthfully. "We could try to make it work though."

And really, that was what the two of them did so well. In general they were both chaotic messes. When they collided with each other, it wasn't pretty initially, but they adjusted and fit comfortably together before they knew it. It was not a matter of chance and luck, they worked hard to make it work, and they got great results for their efforts.

"Thank you." Remus kissed her cheek. Tonks grinned and snatched his tome away from him. "Hey!" He ran after her, as she sprinted up the stairs, both of them laughing loudly…

* * *

**Wow, we are actually inching towards the end here.  
**

**In some ways I feel like this is taking forever, in other ways I feel like it just started yesterday. Oh well, there will always be an abundance of projects to attack.**

**Next: 'Making up.'**

**Tomorrow's prompt was kind of included in today's drabble...but... I'll come up with something.**


	24. Making Up

**Whoa, All ready on Day 24: Making up**

**slenderpanda597: **Thank you!

**I really, really don't own _Harry Potter_.**

* * *

"You've got some nerve turning up here!" Andromeda hissed. Tonks abruptly lost hold of the mug she was holding. It shattered on the floor. Andromeda jumped, pulling her daughter backward, while still glaring at the man standing in the doorway. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex you all the way to America."

Remus waved his wand, bringing the pieces of the mug back together. Tonks caught it on reflex as it soared up into the air. Remus looked at her, his lips parted slightly, his brow furrowed. "I have no excuses," he said quietly. "I deserve any punishment you see fit to dole out…and more."

"Damn right you do." Andromeda raised her wand. Tonks shook her head, grabbing her mother's wrist.

"Mum…let him in."

"Are you mad? Why should I?"

"Because I'm asking you to. Please?"

Andromeda sighed, sinking away from the door and pinching the bridge of her nose. "You have five minutes," she told Remus, pointing threateningly at him. She gave a softer glance to her daughter. "Call me if you need anything Nymphadora."

It was the reigning champion of awkward silences.

"So um…" Remus rubbed the back of his neck. "I see you're doing well."

Tonks' eyebrows shot up. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Right. Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say."

Tonks snorted. "And I thought you were supposed to be intelligent."

"Not at all. I must be the biggest idiot this side of the pond."

"Just tell me this," she said, resisting the urge to grab him and shake him up and down. "I know why you left but…Why did you come back?"

"It was Harry," Remus said quickly. "I thought he might…I mean, I remembered how James always used to straighten me up when I was struggling with an important decision. I thought Harry, with his similar values of loyalty and bravery might be able to knock some sense into my horrible, spineless self."

"Everybody always puts so much weight on that poor bloke," Tonks sighed. Remus winced.

"Well, yes. Maybe I shouldn't have gone but I needed…I needed a friend. I feel so alone all the time—"

"That's because you never let anyone in!" Tonks yelled. "I've tried and tried to get under your surface, and sometimes I get glimpses of your true self, but in the end you always end up running away."

Remus tensed, and for a moment she thought he might lash out. Then he nodded, slowly. "I know."

"You aren't disloyal," Tonks said finally, after the silence threatened to devour them once more. "You acted out of the same motivations as my father, you only wanted to protect the people you love." Remus' mouth set in a thin white line. "You do love us? Don't you?" She asked, putting her hand on her swollen stomach. Remus' eyes drifted towards it.

"What if…what if he's like me? If he's a monster—"

Tonks slapped him. The sound of the smack ran out across the room and hung overwhelmingly in the air. "You will not speak that way about my child. Say what you want about yourself, however wrong you may be—but you will never call our child a monster."

Remus ran his hand over the red mark on his cheek. "If he is a monster," he repeated. Tonks glared, but he continued. "Then I will still love him." She blinked. "For whatever reason, I feel that you still love me despite everything I am," he looked to her for confirmation. She felt like punching him into the wall, but she nodded through the frustration.

"Not despite," she whispered. "And not because of either. I just…as you say, for whatever reason I love you as you are."

"Well, then I see no reason I couldn't love him," Remus finished decisively.

"Alright then." Tonks began to penguin march out of the room. Remus followed, staring questioningly at her.

"So…?"

"So stay if you want to. And if you leave again I will trust you to come back. Even though…"

"Even though what?" Remus asked cautiously.

"Even though I will be setting my mother on you shortly."

Remus froze. "Ah."

"Yes, you didn't think I was going to let you off easy, did you? Mum can punish you enough for the both of us."

"I'll take it all."

"You may regret saying that," Tonks warned him.

"I regret many things," he muttered. She paused at the foot of the stairs. He tentatively offered her his arm. She took it without hesitation. Her grip was deathly tight, as if she would never let him go.

"Never again," she said, closing her eyes as he guided her forward.

* * *

**Well, there goes another one. Only six more left. **

**Next is: 'Gazing into each other's eyes.' Huh, don't know if I want to do an entire thing on that. We'll see.**


	25. Eyes

**Day 25: Staring into each other's eyes.**

**slenderpanda597: Well, I tried.**

**I do not own _Harry Potter_. What about you?**

* * *

Tonks couldn't help herself. Her eyes kept following his movements. It was more than that though. When she saw him, her senses went into overdrive. Her carefully honed auror-sight was activated. She memorized every inch of him, interpreting with a smile. Perhaps she was over-analyzing, but she could not help herself.

When he ran his hands through his hair, certainly she saw the glints of grey amongst the brown, but she also noticed the length and thinness of his fingers. She saw the three claw scratches on his left forearm as his tattered sleeve slipped down. She saw how he automatically pulled the sleeve back up, glancing around as if daring any one to comment. Then, when no one did, he sighed tiredly. She liked the rise and fall of his chest, but most of all she loved his eyes.

Average brown, normal, he would say.

Sharp, expressive, and the color of chocolate, was her opinion.

Tonks could stare into his eyes all day.

The problem with that was Mad Eye's fifteenth rule for constant vigilance. If you could see the whites of a person's eyes, then that person was probably aware you were watching.

For all the time Tonks spent studying the flicks of gold mixed in the iris, she was certain he'd knew she was staring.

Instead of being madly embarrassed however, she was somewhat encouraged.

Remus held her gaze, with a twitch of a smirk in the corner of his mouth. Tonks reckoned he would have looked away or told her off if he'd been upset.

Rather, they started to have silly little contests. First they stared without blinking. Tonks won this more often than not, thanks to her powers of being able to grow and shrink her eyes at will. Then they tried staring without giggling. Tonks absolutely failed at this. Remus would keep a serious face, but she would dissolve into laughter right in the middle of Snape's speech. After being rebuffed in front of the entire Order, Tonks got Remus back by turning her face different colors and shapes, making him slap his hands in front of his mouth and try to choke down his laughter.

He failed.

The two of them got sent outside once. Molly and Snape looked annoyed, but Dumbledore and Sirius were twinkly-eyed with amusement.

And the light punishment did not dissuade Remus and Tonks from staring.

Though next time when she went to gaze into his eyes, she found his look somewhat intimidating. The intensity with which he watched her was overwhelming. She felt hot and completely distracted. When Snape asked her to repeat what he'd said at the end of the meeting, Sirius had to jump in and save her, because she had positively no idea.

"I couldn't take in a word," she said accusingly to Remus. There was that smirk again.

"How do think I felt when it started up?" He asked earnestly. "It was damn near impossible participating in the meetings with your eyes watching me so intently. Once we had a vote and I had no idea what we were voting on. I had to side with Sirius and hope I wasn't supporting the motion of putting snakes down Snape's trousers."

Tonks laughed. Then she winced. "Sorry." Now, finally, she was going to be told off.

"…You don't have to apologize," Remus said, catching her gaze once more. They stared for the longest moment, until some behind them coughed rather pointedly.

"What's this about putting snakes down my trousers?" Snape said in a furiously cool tone.  
Remus gulped. "Ah…Severus I wasn't suggesting anything. I merely said that Sirius would probably—err, but don't blame him. He didn't actually say anything of the sort so…"

Snape rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I would keep your foolish infatuation under control Lupin. It appears to be addling whatever little good sense you had to begin with," he hissed, before slinking away.

"I didn't know Snape was such a jokester," Tonks commented lightly.

"I don't think he was joking," Remus said. He smiled nervously. Tonks enjoyed the way his eyes lit up when she returned his grin.

* * *

**I am sleepy and kind of sick, but I got the chapter up.  
**

**Tomorrow will be: Getting married. Do do do do, do do do do...**


	26. Getting Married

**Day 26: Getting Married**

**I apologize for getting this up an entire day late. And I know it's short...argh... weddings are just an entirely different universe for me, and I didn't know how to write it.**

**slenderpanda597: **As always, thanks so much! Snape is Snape.

**If I owned _Harry Potter _I would probably know how to write a wedding. Or it would be from Harry's perspective so I would just make him get distracted or knock him out or something and not have to deal with it.**

* * *

"Remus, you make me lose my mind. Some days you make me want to rip out my hair, curl up in a ball and be alone forever. Other days you make me smile so much my jaw hurts, but it is the loveliest sort of pain. Had I never met you, I probably would have been fine never meeting you—but I wouldn't have known what I was missing. With you I am able to laugh my very loudest, cry my very hardest, and just generally put my all into whatever I do. With you I feel more alive. So now that I've met you, I don't want to let you go. In the beginning I thought I was being ridiculous. I thought you were some far away creature, all brain and rugged charm and I would never have any hold over you. Then I started to notice that you were more than I could ever imagine. You are so proud of your ability to sneak around and go un-punished for your mischief. But you are also your own harshest judge. You never seem to think you are good enough for anything, not even me who continues to want you more and more every day. It felt like a rather hopeless situation, and to anyone who knows me, it takes a lot for me to give up. Then I realized that you were catching me each time I fell—and I fall a lot. So I thought, he must care about me, at least a little bit. So I kept at it, I kept waiting. And I'm glad I did, because here we are, standing at the altar."

Here she heard some appreciative laughter and crying from their gathered family and friends. She had almost forgotten they were there. All she could see were his eyes, burning into hers in the most aching sort of way.

"Nymphadora," he started. She coughed in annoyance. She heard Charlie chuckle uproariously. He must be drunk all ready. "I am poor, I am dangerous and I am nearly ancient compared to you." She restrained herself from grabbing his hand and pronouncing them married before he continued his foolishness. "Still you make me feel like the richest man. You are the strong and unrelenting and it makes me try harder so I feel like I can be closer to your equal. At the same time, I feel like a schoolboy with you, because there is nothing more amusing than dragging you into trouble with me. You laugh in the face of adversity, and your laughter is the most contagious thing that I forget all else when I hear it. Your laughter blocks out all the other noises, even the doubts which have plague me in my darkest moments. I hope that somehow I can continue to make you laugh, because then I would be the happiest man for the rest of my life."

Tonks' eyes felt wet, but she was grinning ear to ear. The presiding wizard was saying something, but it was all background noise to the thumping of her heart. "Come here you," she said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands held her waist, and they kissed for the first time as husband and wife.

* * *

**Again, a thousand apologies. I'll try to get the next one up soon.  
**

**It's a birthday one.**


	27. A Birthday

**Day 27: A Birthday**

**So here's the second of the night. Double updates are hard. (I like this one better though).**

**Imaginary hugs to all of you. (Unless you don't like hugs. In that case take some imaginary candy of your choosing).**

**I really don't own _Harry Potter_.**

* * *

"I'm sorry it can't be something more, but you're lucky to have gotten anything with how things are these days," Andromeda said, plopping a box on Tonks' lap.

Tonks blinked. "What's this for?"

"It's your birthday present of course," Andromeda said, pulling up a chair and giving her an encouraging look.

"Mum," Tonks sighed. "I thought I told you, I don't want to make a big deal about my birthday this year." There were several reasons for this, the main being that her father's birthday was the day after hers, and they normally had a joint celebration. It just wouldn't feel right getting presents if he wasn't sitting beside her, gleefully rubbing his hands together as they guessed what was hidden inside.

"Your father helped make that for you." Andromeda looked halfway between bristling and melancholy. "Are you telling me you won't even give it a look?"

"Dad…" Tonks closed her eyes for a minute, collecting herself before staring uncomfortable at the little box wrapped in brown paper.

At this point Remus stopped rubbing her feet. "You don't have to open it if you don't want to," he said quietly.

"Of course not, though I would prefer you did. To be honest, it's mainly a gift for the baby."

"Oh, well that's different." Tonks carefully tore at the edges, instead of ripping at the paper with gusto like she normally. Then she slipped over the lid and tilted her head sideways. "I'm sorry…what is it?"

"That's what I said at first," Andromeda nodded in understanding. "But once Ted explained it, I thought he'd actually made some sense for once. It's a muggle music player that he adapted—here, take it out and I'll show you how it works."

Tonks pulled it out, now recognizing the yellow fabric as a pair of large, soft headphones. Andromeda scooted closer, pulling the edge of Tonks' shirt up and arranging the headphones on either side of her stomach. Then she hit a button, and Tonks felt the gentle vibration of sound against her skin.

"So that's how it is," Remus said, leaning towards them in interest. "Clever Ted."

"Yeah, dad was a genius," Tonks mumbled. She felt some indescribable emotion rise in her chest. She wasn't sure if she was about to cry or start singing along to the music she could barely hear playing.

"Do you like it?" Andromeda asked, now sounded a little unsure.

"I love it," Tonks said, squeezing her hand. Andromeda hummed in delight, pressing a kiss on her daughter's cheek and standing up.

"Wonderful. I'll just do some cleaning in the kitchen. Be back soon." She nearly floated out of the room.

"She misses him so much. I thought it would help if we didn't celebrate my birthday so we didn't have to think about all the other birthdays when we were together…but I guess that was stupid of me."

"You were trying to be thoughtful. It was a selfless thing to do," Remus told her.

"Not entirely. I was kind of scared of reliving those memories as well." Tonks switched off the music player and held it up, turning it over in her hands. She could imagine her dad, bent over his old desk in the basement, his reading glasses perched on his nose, the lamp sitting so close up to his face that Andromeda always said his hair would catch on fire one day. It was his habit to tinker for hours, sometimes creating beautiful little hybrids of magic and muggle objects, and sometimes making small explosions. Either way he always had time for his daughter. When she was younger she would sit on his lap and 'help' him work. She made a mess of things, but he never seemed to mind. He told her she was the smartest inventor in the world.

One birthday he gave her his old toolkit. She carried that screwdriver around for days in her back pocket. When she sat on it and broke it, she cried, feeling immensely guilty. Instead of reprimanding her, Ted gave her some glue, sat her down and taught her how to fix it.

"All right Dora?" Remus asked suddenly. "You were staring off into space a bit."

"I was remembering." Tonks bit her lip. "Hey Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think the baby will like working with his hands? Do you think we could build things together?"

"I can't possibly know that…but we could definitely try it out. Maybe he will."

"If he doesn't, we'll have to find something he likes and buy him lots of presents that he can use to indulge his favorite habits." She tugged on his sleeve and he helped her sit up.

"You're going to spoil him," Remus pointed out.

"And you won't? I can see it now, you sneaking him chocolate under the table during dinner and spoiling his appetite."

Remus chuckled. "That sounds about right. And speaking of chocolate…" A delicious smell wafted towards them from the kitchen. "Your mum is about to turn off the lights and bring a cake in. Do try and act surprised."

"You're terrible at keeping secrets." Tonks tickled his side. He yelped and caught her hands, holding them still.

The lights went out. Teeny candle lights floated in the doorway. Andromeda sang like she did ever year. The joy in her voice sounded a little forced. Remus released her hands, smoothing his hands across her back.

Tonks resolved to wake up earlier tomorrow morning and put some flowers by the memorial in their backyard.

Or maybe she'd bring a slice of chocolate cake and a screwdriver.

* * *

**Great, now I want chocolate cake. Good job self.**

**Tomorrow will be: 'doing something ridiculous.' With these two that shouldn't be difficult. **


	28. Being Riddikulus

**My computer's fan sounds like a dying whale.**

**On other news, Day 28: Doing something Ridiculous (I have just realized right now that I missed the opportunity to make a boggart pun. Oh well. Malfoy did it for me in the third movie).**

**slenderpanda597: Endless thanks to you.**

_**Harry Potter**_** is not the prod****uct of my humble imagination.**

* * *

Remus stood in the doorway, jaw dropped and eyes wide.

Sirius was stuck to the ceiling by some green dripping mess. Tonks was in much of the same situation, on the furthermost wall. There was a splat of slime across her mouth, and her wand was stuck several inches away from her, while her fingers stretched trying to reach it. The cabinet in the corner was shaking slightly, with something brown and puffy caught in the door.

"What is going on in here?"

"Oh, hey Moony," Sirius said tiredly. "Careful not to step in the gloop."

"Sirius Black, what have you done this time?" Remus shook his head as he inched around the puddles of slime on the floor.

"It's not my fault," Sirius argued. Tonks glared silently. "Well…not entirely my fault anyway. I was trying to open this big iron chest, but it exploded and stuck Tonksie and I to the walls. Then the furniture came alive and—"

Remus was cautiously making his way over to Tonks when he stopped suddenly. "Is that Hermione in the cabinet?"

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione's voice came tentatively. "Could you get us out of here? I've tried everything but it just won't let us out."

"It won't let you out?"

"Yes, it appears to be sentient."

"Wait a minute, _us_?"

"Ron's in here as well…the cabinet went for me and he tried to push me out of the way, but it just swallowed him up as well. I think he's knocked out…"

"Poor Ron." Remus sighed. "Poor Hermione, and poor Nymphadora."

Tonks wiggled her fingers threateningly.

"What about me?" Sirius pouted.

"It definitely sounds like your fault," Remus chided. "Why on earth did you want to open that box so badly?" He knelt down in front of Tonks, studying the slime from a safe distance.

"It looked like a treasure chest so I thought there might be something amusing inside. And Ron was egging me on the whole time."

"Yes, because we were genii at the age of fifteen," Remus said sarcastically.

"Well yeah, we were. Anyway, Hermione was curious as well, and she's the cleverest witch I know."

"I won't argue with that," Remus agreed.

"…Oh, thank you Sirius and Professor Lupin," Hermione said politely from inside the cabinet. "Though I certainly don't feel that intelligent at the moment. I can't think of anything to help us get out of here. I haven't even been able to identify that green slime substance."

"Knowing my family history it could be something deadly," Sirius grumbled. "Though honestly it just feels like slug juice."

"I've tired heat, cold and light but nothing made it budge," Hermione continued.

"There's some in there with you as well?" Remus asked.

"Yes, coming out of the chest… you know Sirius I don't there was any treasure in here after all, it appears to be entirely filled with an endless supply of slime."

"I wish it was slug juice, then we could just use salt to make it go away," Sirius sighed.

"Why don't we give that a try," Remus suggested, pulling out a bottle of salt.

"Who cares salt in their robes?" Sirius wondered.

"Usually I don't, but I was heading to get some breakfast when I noticed slime oozing out of this room and thought I would investigate."

"Well then, give it a shake old boy."

Remus did, sprinkling some on the spot next to Tonks' arm. The green slime immediately sizzled, a horrible shrieking noise ringing through the air as it evaporated in a green puff of smoke.

"Hooray!" Sirius cried, attempting to move his arms in a victorious gesture. "Now get me loose so we can celebrate."

"Nymphadora first," Remus said. He sprinkled the salt around her, conjuring up a pair of earplugs so he could continue through the slime's shrieks. Sirius winced from his position on the ceiling. As soon as Remus freed Tonks, she leapt onto him, her legs wrapped around her waist as she hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Tonks said, kissing his cheek. "That stuff tastes vile." Remus froze, unsure of how to react. He slowly plucked his earplugs out.

Sirius sniggered. "Shut up padfoot," Remus muttered.

"Now for the cabinet. I think I know how to get it to open," Tonks announced, rushing up to it. Remus followed brandishing salt as he went. "Hermione, can you see an inscription on the side of the box?"

"…Yes, I think I do. It looks like ancient Ankh-Morporkian runes," she sighed. "Unfortunately we haven't studied these in class yet so I can only make out a few of them."

"That's very impressive Hermione. Those things can be a pain in the arse to decipher," Tonks told her. "But I got a fairly good look at them before the box exploded. If you describe the shapes to me, I'll give you the proper pronunciation. You just have to spin your wand clockwise around the runes will speaking them aloud and the whatever-it-is slime trap should deactivate."

"You know how to read ancient Ankh-Morporkian?" Remus asked excitedly. Tonks winked at him.

"Yep. I had to learn this one time when this daft wizard thought it would be a good idea to use a troll to break into an Ankh-Morporkian temple. Of course, he activated this curse and the slimy troll went on rampage and Mad Eye realized that we had to—"

"Story time later," Sirius interrupted. "I'm still stuck on the ceiling… and we should probably check if Ron's alright. Molly will kill me if anything's happened to him."

"He's just passed out," Hermione assured them. "Though he has drooled all over my shirt."

Together Hermione and Tonks got the box closed, which caused the cabinet to spit out the two teenagers. Tonks caught the snoring Ron, while Remus helped Hermione to her feet.

"I think I would like to wash up now," Hermione said, pulling at her drooled on shirt.

"I hear you. I could use a good tooth brushing." Tonks nodded, starting to follow her out of the room.

"And then we can all have breakfast together," Remus suggested cheerfully, as if they hadn't just had a battle with ancient slime.

"Did someone say breakfast?" Ron asked, sitting up and rubbing his face. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron looked around. "Wow, what happened in here?"

"Come on," Hermione gestured him over, "I'll explain it to you."

"Okay," Ron yawned and they left.

"There's bacon and eggs and some toast," Remus told Tonks, guiding her out of the room. Tonks suddenly realized something.

"Hello! Still stuck up here!" Sirius called down to them.

"Whoops," Remus said, innocently.

Tonks blinked. "You were leaving him there on purpose, weren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Remus raised his eyebrows at her.

"We should let him down and make him clean up the room," Tonks suggested as an alternative.

"Now that sounds like a good idea," Remus agreed, holding up his salt bottle.

"You two are evil," Sirius whined. "I won't clean it!"

"Okay, then I'll just tell Molly you made a mess and won't take responsibility for it," Tonks said. "See how she takes to the idea."

Sirius gasped in horror. "You are a bit evil," Remus said appreciatively.

"I try." Tonks grinned.

* * *

**Wheeeee...I wrote a longer chapter this time! Yay! This requires a good night of rest. (Ha!)  
**

**Tomorrow will be: 'doing something sweet.' Awww... sunshine, daisies, butter mellow...**


	29. Something Sweet

**Day 29: Something Sweet**

**slenderpanda597: I feel like you should have ownership if this fic. You are a seriously dedicated reviewer. Feel free to point out any mistakes so I can correct them afterwards :)**

**You have heard it all before, I do not own _Harry Potter_.**

* * *

"Are you drunk?" Tonks asked, her hands on her hips.

"Quite possibly." Remus nodded eagerly. "He said yes by the way—Harry agreed to be godfather."

"Perfect." Tonks grinned, pulling him through the doorway and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Now come here and be with your family." Teddy was lying, squinty-eyed in his crib. Remus leaned down and scooped him up. Teddy nuzzled against his father's chest, his chubby fingers clutching at Remus' shirt.

"I have a family." Remus eyes were unfocused.

"You look completely awe-struck," Tonks observed. She yawned and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to her. Remus got under the covers, still cradling their child in his arms.

"I am," Remus said loudly. Teddy stirred and whimpered slightly. "I am," Remus repeated in a whisper.

The next morning Remus awoke to the sound of giggles and the smell of burnt toast.

"Oh, daddy's up? Let's go say 'hello' Teddy. Don't you want to say 'hello' to daddy?" Remus groaned.

"Maybe wait until daddy's had a hangover potion."

"Mum's whipped you up one. It's waiting in the kitchen. Though she said she was tempted to let you suffer, she also wanted you to be top-notch for taking care of Teddy. He's a nonstop little ball of energy at the moment. It's waiting in the kitchen."

Remus rubbed his eyes. Tonks was holding Teddy out in-between them. Teddy's arms were flailing wildly as his tongue blew a raspberry. Today his hair was yellow with black stripes. Remus ruffled it suspiciously.

"Hmmm…You got him to do that on purpose, didn't you?"

"I did not." Tonks sounded offended. "What kind of parent would I be if I used our newborn son in our endless battle of which house is better?"

"Uh-huh." Remus clearly didn't believe her.

"Well, we may have taken a field trip into my old room. There may have been some old Quidditch flags hanging up in there."

"Of course," Remus sighed. "Well, I suppose it's too early to be thinking about what house he'll be in anyway—though I'm sure it will be Gryffindor."

"Are you joking? It's definitely going to be Hufflepuff. He all ready has so much house spirit!" She gestured at the hair.

"What house do you want to be in Teddy?" Remus asked him, tickling his chin. Teddy drooled happily all over Remus' hand. Then he screwed up his eyes. "Diaper change?" Remus wondered, hoping it could wait until after the potion at least.

"No. It's another hair change," Tonks said knowingly. Teddy was now sporting brown and grey locks identical to his father's. "Aww…that's adorable," Tonks cooed.

"On him, I guess it is," Remus couldn't help but agree.

"No, I think it's adorable on both of you," Tonks teased, tugging on his overgrown bangs.

Remus pouted. "Adorable? Not handsome?"

"Fine," Tonks relented. "You are both my handsomest little men." She covered Teddy's face in kisses. Teddy returned the favor by slobbering all over her. Tonks laughed. "I think our son has a salivating problem. I'm sure that's from your side of the family."

Remus scratched his head as they walked down the stairs. "Better then some problems he could have inherited," he grumbled. Tonks patted him on the back.

"Don't be a dummy. Teddy is absolutely wonderful, and so are you."

"So you continue to say." Remus sat down at the kitchen table and gulped down his potion.

"Yes. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Remus reached over and gave her arm a light squeeze. "I could stand to hear it a couple more times," he said with a hesitant smile. Tonks paused. Then she situated Teddy on her lap and whispered into his ear. She was so quite that even Remus' sensitive hearing didn't pick up on what she said. "What was that?" He asked curiously.

Tonks put a finger on her lips. "It's out little secret. Now, why don't you fetch us a fresh diaper."

"One for each of you?" Remus joked, standing up and heading out of the room.

"Remus!" He laughed. From the hallway he could hear Tonks still talking to Teddy.

"And so Teddy bear, whenever your father is being a dummy, you just remind him that he's amazing and we love him. In fact, once you can talk, you should tell him that every day. Okay?"

Teddy gurgled in approval.

Remus rubbed a hand over his eyes, trying to convince himself that the wetness was just an after-affect of the hangover potion.

Though, he knew it wasn't.

In his opinion, Tonks was the amazing one. And Teddy was shaping up to be much of the same.

* * *

**And one more to go.  
**

**Geez, this feels so weird. **

**Tomorrow (the last) will be: 'something hot' *wink wink, nudge nudge***

**Really though, this might be difficult. Aw well, better give it my all for the final hurrah. **


	30. Something Hot

**Okay, here is the last one.**

**Day 30: Something Hot.**

**Guest: **Yes, I agree. :)

**HalfBloodBanana: **Ha. Yep. It's weird to be done.

**slenderpanda597: **I feel like I missed something... oh well. I am American.

**alwayshp394: **That is exactly the reaction I was going for...sort of :)

**For the last time, I don't own _Harry Potter!_**

* * *

Whenever she was around him, it was like her senses were thrown into the sun.

The heat spread throughout her entire body, lighting up her cheeks, and making her vision hazy.

In the dead of summer she would suffer and try all sorts of ways to get cool. She would shred her clothes, and stand under the cool shower for hours. She would avoid all human contact for fear of mingling sweat and smells.

With the brand of burning he inspired, she reacted in much of the opposite manner. Well, yes she would occasionally shred all of her clothes… but her skin against his was achingly beautiful. She wanted her breath to get mixed up in his, so closely that they couldn't tell the difference.

At first he was hesitant, drawing back as her fingertips ran along his scars. He thought himself bone chillingly ugly. She got chills of a different sort around him. She kissed his scars, long and hard, until he melted as well.

Then it was less thinking about doubts and fears—it was barely any thinking at all. Her brain was overheating, and by the way he couldn't take his eyes off of her…she would say he felt a similar fervor.

They were ripped raw, completely sensitive to every touch, and positively loving the sensations. Words spilled from her lips before she knew what she was saying. There were muffled whispers, sharp shouts, rumbling laughter, all punctuated by curses and teasing remarks.

And she rested her head against his chest, as his grip on her hips loosened. And she smiled into him as his their breathing slowed. And the intense heat simmered down to a comforting warmth that she never wanted to leave.

* * *

**Wow, okay, so that's all folks!**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and just general great response to this. Friendly reminder that you can continue reviewing or PM-ing me with any corrections or any input. I continue to edit things long after their prime.  
**

**(I'll just casually plug my other fics here: I have a PercyXAudrey fic ongoing, or an Avengers friendship fic if you are part of that fandom as well).**


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